Overview
Today we are going to delve into a crucial vulnerability labeled as CVE-2024-56524 that primarily affects Radware Cloud Web Application Firewall (WAF) up until its 2025-05-07 version. This high severity bug, if successfully exploited, could allow remote attackers to circumvent firewall filters by appending a special character to their request.
Given the essential role played by WAFs in securing web applications, any vulnerability that allows for firewall bypass can have serious implications. Successful exploitation could lead to potential system compromise and data leakage, underscoring the need for urgent attention and remediation of this vulnerability.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2024-56524
Severity: Critical (9.1 CVSS Score)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Impact: Potential system compromise and data leakage
Affected Products
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Product | Affected Versions
Radware Cloud WAF | Before 2025-05-07
How the Exploit Works
The vulnerability resides in the processing of incoming requests by the Radware Cloud WAF. More specifically, it is triggered when a specially crafted request containing a particular character is sent to the WAF. The presence of this character in the request causes the WAF to misinterpret or overlook the malicious intent within the request, thereby allowing it to bypass the firewall filters and reach the protected system.
Conceptual Example Code
An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a malicious request similar to the conceptual example below:
GET /vulnerable_page.php?param=special_char_payload HTTP/1.1
Host: target.example.comIn the above example, the ‘special_char_payload’ would be a string containing the special character that triggers the vulnerability, allowing the request to pass through the WAF and potentially causing harm to the protected system.
The exact nature of the special character and the structure of the payload would depend on the specific details of the vulnerability, which are not disclosed here for security reasons.
It’s crucial to note that this is a conceptual example and is not intended to be used for any malicious purposes.