SonicWall Urges Users to Patch Several Vulnerabilities in Secure Mobile Access Products (CVE-2021-20038)
SonicWall patched eight vulnerabilities in its Secure Mobile Access 100 product line. None have been exploited in the wild, yet, but users are strongly urged to patch.
Background
On December 7, SonicWall issued an advisory (SNWLID-2021-0026) for eight CVEs in its Secure Mobile Access (SMA) 100 product line of remote access gateways. As part of the advisory, SonicWall “strongly urges” its customers to patch these vulnerabilities in the SMA 200, 210, 400, 410 and 500v products, in addition to SMA 100 series appliances with the Web Application Firewall (WAF) enabled.
| CVE | Description | CVSSv3 |
|---|---|---|
| CVE-2021-20038 | Unauthenticated stack-based buffer overflow | 9.8 |
| CVE-2021-20039 | Authenticated command injection | 7.2 |
| CVE-2021-20040 | Unauthenticated file upload path traversal | 6.5 |
| CVE-2021-20041 | Unauthenticated CPU exhaustion | 7.5 |
| CVE-2021-20042 | Unauthenticated confused deputy | 6.3 |
| CVE-2021-20043 | Heap-based buffer overflow | 8.8 |
| CVE-2021-20044 | Post-authentication remote code execution | 7.2 |
| CVE-2021-20045 | Multiple unauthenticated heap- and stack-based buffer overflows | 9.4 |
While there is no evidence at this time that these vulnerabilities have been exploited in the wild, SonicWall SMA devices have been targeted by threat actors in the past. In January, “highly sophisticated threat actors” exploited CVE-2021-20016, a critical SQL injection vulnerability in SMA100 devices. In July, SonicWall warned of an imminent ransomware attack leveraging known, patched vulnerabilities in SMA 100 products. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency also issued an alert about this campaign, confirming active attacks. It was later reported that the known flaw exploited in the campaign was CVE-2019-7481.
Analysis
The most severe of these flaws are a set of unauthenticated heap- and stack-based buffer overflow vulnerabilities. CVE-2021-20038 covers a single vulnerability and received a CVSSv3 score of 9.8, while CVE-2021-20045 covers multiple vulnerabilities, the bundle received at CVSSv3 score of 9.4. CVE-2021-20038 is the result of using strcat() function when handling environment variables from the HTTP GET method used in the SMA SSLVPN Apache httpd server. CVE-2021-20043 is also a heap-based buffer overflow and it received a CVSSv3 score of 8.8, but it requires authentication to exploit. For all three of these CVEs, successful exploitation would result in code execution as the “nobody” user in the SMA100 appliance.
The remaining flaws include a mix of authenticated and unauthenticated vulnerabilities ranging in severity from CVSSv3 6.3 to 7.5. Devices with the web application firewall enabled are still vulnerable to these flaws. Discovery of these vulnerabilities is credited to Jacob Baines of Rapid7 and Richard Warren of NCCGroup.
Proof of concept
At the time of publication, no proofs-of-concept have been published for any of these vulnerabilities.
Solution
SonicWall strongly urges users to update these devices. The advisory includes a guide for the impacted and fixed firmware versions.
| Impacted Products | Impacted Versions | Fixed Versions |
|---|---|---|
| SMA 100 Series: SMA 200, 210, 400, 410, 500v | 9.0.0.11-31sv* and earlier, 10.2.0.8-37sv, 10.2.1.1-19sv, 10.2.1.2-24sv and earlier | 10.2.0.9-41sv, 10.2.1.3-27sv |
Identifying affected systems
A list of Tenable plugins to identify these vulnerabilities will appear here as they’re released.
Get more information
Join Tenable's Security Response Team on the Tenable Community.
Learn more about Tenable, the first Cyber Exposure platform for holistic management of your modern attack surface.
Get a free 30-day trial of Tenable.io Vulnerability Management.
Related Articles
Volt Typhoon: U.S. Critical Infrastructure Targeted by State-Sponsored Actors
November 19, 2024Volt Typhoon, a state-sponsored actor linked to the People’s Republic of China, has consistently targeted U.S. critical infrastructure with the intent to maintain persistent access. Tenable Research examines the tactics, techniques and procedures of this threat actor.
CVE-2024-0012, CVE-2024-9474: Zero-Day Vulnerabilities in Palo Alto PAN-OS Exploited In The Wild
November 18, 2024Palo Alto Networks confirmed two zero-day vulnerabilities were exploited as part of attacks in the wild against PAN-OS devices, with one being attributed to Operation Lunar Peek.
Microsoft’s November 2024 Patch Tuesday Addresses 87 CVEs (CVE-2024-43451, CVE-2024-49039)
November 12, 2024Microsoft addresses 87 CVEs and one advisory (ADV240001) in its November 2024 Patch Tuesday release, with four critical vulnerabilities and four zero-day vulnerabilities, including two that were exploited in the wild.
Active Directory Under Attack: Five Eyes Guidance Targets Crucial Security Gaps
November 21, 2024A landmark global report from cybersecurity agencies emphasizes 17 attack techniques against Microsoft Active Directory and cautions organizations to step up protections. In the first of our two-part series, we offer five steps you can take today to shore up your AD defenses.
Five Cyber Agencies Sound Alarm About Active Directory Attacks: Beyond the Basics
November 21, 2024A landmark global report emphasizes 17 attack techniques against Microsoft Active Directory and cautions organizations to step up protections. In the second of our two-part series, we take you beyond the basics to highlight three key areas to focus on.
Volt Typhoon: What State and Local Government Officials Need to Know
November 19, 2024Increased activity from the state-sponsored threat group Volt Typhoon raises concerns about the cybersecurity of U.S. critical infrastructure. Here’s how you can identify potential exposures and attack paths.
- Vulnerability Management