Fastnetmon: Missing Authentication for Critical Functionality
CVE-2026-48692 is a high-severity missing authentication for critical functionality vulnerability in Fastnetmon from Pavel-odintsov, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.1 out of 10. It can be exploited from the same local network by an unauthenticated attacker, without any action from a user. Affected Fastnetmon versions: 1.2.9 and earlier. The record does not name a fixed version, so check the vendor advisory. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.23% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.
High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.
What to do
- Check which version of Fastnetmon you run against the affected versions below, and install the vendor's latest release.
Affected products and versions
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pavel-odintsov | Fastnetmon | 1.2.9 and earlier | Not stated |
Version data comes from NVD's product matching. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.
How the severity score breaks down
- Attack vector
- AdjacentThe attacker must be on the same local network segment.
- 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
- NoneAvailability is not affected.
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N. Scored by NVD.
| Scoring system | Score | Severity | Scored by |
|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS 3.1 | 8.1 | High | NVD |
| CVSS 3.1 | 8.1 | High | CISA (ADP) |
Official description
FastNetMon Community Edition through 1.2.9 exposes a gRPC API server on port 50052 with no authentication mechanism. The server is initialized with grpc::InsecureServerCredentials() (src/fastnetmon.cpp line 477) and a source code comment explicitly acknowledges 'Listen on the given address without any authentication mechanism.' None of the RPC methods in src/api.cpp (ExecuteBan, ExecuteUnBan, GetBanlist, GetTotalTrafficCounters, etc.) perform any credential verification. The ExecuteBan and ExecuteUnBan methods trigger security-critical actions: BGP route announcements that can blackhole network traffic, and execution of external notification scripts via popen(). An attacker with local network access can ban arbitrary IP addresses (causing denial of service to legitimate traffic), unban active attacks (disabling DDoS mitigation), and trigger script execution. There is also no role-based access control separating read-only monitoring from destructive administrative operations.
Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.
The underlying weakness: Missing Authentication for Critical Functionality
The product does not perform any authentication for functionality that requires a provable user identity or consumes a significant amount of resources.
How developers prevent this class of flaw
- For any security checks that are performed on the client side, ensure that these checks are duplicated on the server side, in order to avoid CWE-602. Attackers can bypass the client-side checks by modifying values after the checks have been performed, or by changing the client to remove the client-side checks entirely. Then, these modified values would be submitted to the server.
- Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid. For example, consider using libraries with authentication capabilities such as OpenSSL or the ESAPI Authenticator.
- When storing data in the cloud (e.g., S3 buckets, Azure blobs, Google Cloud Storage, etc.), use the provider's controls to require strong authentication for users who should be allowed to access the data.
More Missing Authentication for Critical Functionality vulnerabilities (CWE-306)
Timeline
- CVE record published.
- CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: no, technical impact: total).
- Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).
References
Third-party and government advisories
- lorikeetsecurity.com/blog/fastnetmon-cve-2026-48692-grpc-no-authThird Party Advisory
Other references
Other vulnerabilities in Fastnetmon
- 7.5 High severity
- 8.2 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 8.2 High severity
- 8.2 High severity
- 9.8 Critical severity
Recent Missing Authentication for Critical Functionality vulnerabilities
- 9.2 Critical severity
- 9.8 Critical severity
- 10.0 Critical severity
- 9.8 Critical severity
- 10.0 Critical severity
- 9.1 Critical severity
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