CyberSecBulletin
CVE-2024-45208NVD status: Deferred

Director: Improper Access Control

Published Updated By the CyberSecBulletin desk

CVE-2024-45208 is a critical-severity improper access control vulnerability in Director from Versa, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.8 out of 10. It can be exploited remotely over the network by an unauthenticated attacker, without any action from a user. Affected Director versions: 21.2.2 and earlier; 21.2.3 and earlier; 22.1.1 and earlier, and others listed below. The record does not name a fixed version, so check the vendor advisory. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.92% chance of exploitation within 30 days, higher than 61% of scored CVEs.

Patch this week

Critical severity: a successful attack would have severe impact.

What to do

  1. Check which version of Director you run against the affected versions below, and install the vendor's latest release.
  2. Until you can update, restrict network access to the affected service so it is not reachable from untrusted networks.

Affected products and versions

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed in
VersaDirector21.2.2 and earlier; 21.2.3 and earlier; 22.1.1 and earlier; 22.1.2 and earlier; 22.1.3 and earlier; 22.1.4 and earlierNot stated

Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.

How the severity score breaks down

Attack vector
NetworkCan be exploited remotely over a network, including the internet.
Attack complexity
LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
Privileges required
NoneNo account or login is needed.
User interaction
NoneNo action by a victim is required.
Scope
UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
Confidentiality
HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
Integrity
HighData or code can be modified at will.
Availability
HighThe component can be taken down completely.

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. Scored by CNA (hackerone.com).

Official description

The Versa Director SD-WAN orchestration platform which makes use of Cisco NCS application service. Active and Standby Directors communicate over TCP ports 4566 and 4570 to exchange High Availability (HA) information using a shared password. Affected versions of Versa Director bound to these ports on all interfaces. An attacker that can access the Versa Director could access the NCS service on port 4566 and exploit it to perform unauthorized administrative actions and perform remote code execution. Customers are recommended to follow the hardening guide. Versa Networks is not aware of any reported instance where this vulnerability was exploited. Proof of concept for this vulnerability has been disclosed by third party security researchers.

Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.

The underlying weakness: Improper Access Control

The product does not restrict or incorrectly restricts access to a resource from an unauthorized actor.

How developers prevent this class of flaw

  • Very carefully manage the setting, management, and handling of privileges. Explicitly manage trust zones in the software.
  • Compartmentalize the system to have safe areas where trust boundaries can be unambiguously drawn. Do not allow sensitive data to go outside of the trust boundary and always be careful when interfacing with a compartment outside of the safe area. Ensure that appropriate compartmentalization is built into the system design, and the compartmentalization allows for and reinforces privilege separation functionality. Architects and designers should rely on the principle of least privilege to decide the appropriate time to use privileges and the time to drop privileges.

More Improper Access Control vulnerabilities (CWE-284)

Timeline

  1. CVE record published.
  2. CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: yes, technical impact: total).
  3. Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).

References

Other vulnerabilities in Director

All Director vulnerabilities

Recent Improper Access Control vulnerabilities

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