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F5 Networks BIG-IP : Linux kernel vulnerability (K000148479)

high Nessus Plugin ID 210745

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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 tested version. It is, therefore, affected by a vulnerability as referenced in the K000148479 advisory.

 In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tcp: do not accept ACK of bytes we never sent This patch is based on a detailed report and ideas from Yepeng Pan and Christian Rossow. ACK seq validation is currently following RFC 5961 5.2 guidelines: The ACK value is considered acceptable only if it is in the range of ((SND.UNA - MAX.SND.WND) <= SEG.ACK <= SND.NXT). All incoming segments whose ACK value doesn't satisfy the above condition MUST be discarded and an ACK sent back. It needs to be noted that RFC 793 on page 72 (fifth check) says: If the ACK is a duplicate (SEG.ACK < SND.UNA), it can be ignored. If the ACK acknowledges something not yet sent (SEG.ACK > SND.NXT) then send an ACK, drop the segment, and return. The ignored above implies that the processing of the incoming data segment continues, which means the ACK value is treated as acceptable. This mitigation makes the ACK check more stringent since any ACK < SND.UNA wouldn't be accepted, instead only ACKs that are in the range ((SND.UNA
 - MAX.SND.WND) <= SEG.ACK <= SND.NXT) get through. This can be refined for new (and possibly spoofed) flows, by not accepting ACK for bytes that were never sent. This greatly improves TCP security at a little cost. I added a Fixes: tag to make sure this patch will reach stable trees, even if the 'blamed' patch was adhering to the RFC. tp->bytes_acked was added in linux-4.2 Following packetdrill test (courtesy of Yepeng Pan) shows the issue at hand: 0 socket(..., SOCK_STREAM, IPPROTO_TCP) = 3 +0 setsockopt(3, SOL_SOCKET, SO_REUSEADDR, [1], 4) = 0 +0 bind(3, ..., ...) = 0 +0 listen(3, 1024) = 0 // ---------------- Handshake
 ------------------- // // when window scale is set to 14 the window size can be extended to // 65535 * (2^14) = 1073725440. Linux would accept an ACK packet // with ack number in (Server_ISN+1-1073725440.
 Server_ISN+1) // ,though this ack number acknowledges some data never // sent by the server. +0 < S 0:0(0) win 65535 +0 > S. 0:0(0) ack 1 <...> +0 < . 1:1(0) ack 1 win 65535 +0 accept(3, ..., ...) = 4 // For the established connection, we send an ACK packet, // the ack packet uses ack number 1 - 1073725300 + 2^32, // where 2^32 is used to wrap around. // Note: we used 1073725300 instead of 1073725440 to avoid possible // edge cases. // 1 - 1073725300 + 2^32 = 3221241997 // Oops, old kernels happily accept this packet. +0 < .
 1:1001(1000) ack 3221241997 win 65535 // After the kernel fix the following will be replaced by a challenge ACK, // and prior malicious frame would be dropped. +0 > . 1:1(0) ack 1001(CVE-2023-52881)

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the F5 Networks BIG-IP security advisory.

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

Solution

The vendor has acknowledged the vulnerability, but no solution has been provided.
Refer to the vendor for remediation guidance.

See Also

https://my.f5.com/manage/s/article/K000148479

Plugin Details

Severity: High

ID: 210745

File Name: f5_bigip_SOL000148479.nasl

Version: 1.1

Type: local

Published: 11/11/2024

Updated: 11/11/2024

Configuration: Enable paranoid mode

Supported Sensors: Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 6.0

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.1

Temporal Score: 5.3

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

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2023-52881

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.4

Temporal Score: 6.4

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

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

Vulnerability Information

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

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

Exploit Ease: No known exploits are available

Vulnerability Publication Date: 1/19/2024

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2023-52881