F5 Networks BIG-IP : Expat XML parser vulnerability (K51011533)

high Nessus Plugin ID 184255

Synopsis

The remote device is missing a vendor-supplied security patch.

Description

The version of F5 Networks BIG-IP installed on the remote host is prior to 13.1.4.1 / 13.1.5 / 14.1.4.2 / 14.1.4.5 / 15.1.3 / 15.1.4 / 16.0.1.2 / 16.1.0 / 16.1.2 / 17.0.0. It is, therefore, affected by a vulnerability as referenced in the K51011533 advisory.

- In libexpat in Expat before 2.2.7, XML input including XML names that contain a large number of colons could make the XML parser consume a high amount of RAM and CPU resources while processing (enough to be usable for denial-of-service attacks). (CVE-2018-20843)

Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

Solution

Upgrade to one of the non-vulnerable versions listed in the F5 Solution K51011533.

See Also

https://my.f5.com/manage/s/article/K51011533

Plugin Details

Severity: High

ID: 184255

File Name: f5_bigip_SOL51011533.nasl

Version: 1.1

Type: local

Published: 11/2/2023

Updated: 11/3/2023

Supported Sensors: Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 4.4

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.8

Temporal Score: 6.4

Vector: CVSS2#AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2018-20843

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.5

Temporal Score: 7

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Temporal Vector: CVSS:3.0/E:F/RL:O/RC:C

Vulnerability Information

CPE: cpe:/a:f5:big-ip_access_policy_manager, cpe:/a:f5:big-ip_advanced_firewall_manager, cpe:/a:f5:big-ip_application_security_manager, cpe:/a:f5:big-ip_domain_name_system, cpe:/a:f5:big-ip_global_traffic_manager, cpe:/a:f5:big-ip_local_traffic_manager, cpe:/a:f5:big-ip_policy_enforcement_manager, cpe:/a:f5:big-ip_wan_optimization_manager, cpe:/h:f5:big-ip_protocol_security_manager, cpe:/h:f5:big-ip

Required KB Items: Host/local_checks_enabled, Host/BIG-IP/hotfix, Host/BIG-IP/modules, Host/BIG-IP/version

Exploit Available: true

Exploit Ease: Exploits are available

Patch Publication Date: 7/18/2019

Vulnerability Publication Date: 6/24/2019

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2018-20843