Overview
A newly discovered vulnerability, CVE-2024-13974, presents a significant risk to organizations using Sophos Firewall older than version 21.0 MR1 (20.0.1). This flaw in the business logic of the Up2Date component can allow attackers to control the firewall’s DNS environment and execute remote code. Given the ubiquity of Sophos Firewall in the cybersecurity landscape, this vulnerability could potentially impact a wide range of businesses and institutions, making it an urgent issue of concern.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2024-13974
Severity: High (8.1 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
Sophos Firewall | Older than version 21.0 MR1 (20.0.1)
How the Exploit Works
The vulnerability lies in the business logic of the Up2Date component of the Sophos Firewall. An attacker can exploit this vulnerability by sending specially crafted packets to the firewall. This can allow the attacker to control the DNS environment of the firewall, leading to remote code execution. The flaw essentially bypasses the security measures put in place and gives the attacker the ability to manipulate the firewall’s settings, potentially compromising the entire system and leading to data leakage.
Conceptual Example Code
Here is a conceptual example of how the vulnerability might be exploited. This is a sample HTTP request:
POST /up2date/component HTTP/1.1
Host: firewall.example.com
Content-Type: application/json
{ "new_dns_settings": { "primary_dns": "attacker-controlled-dns.com" } }In the above example, an attacker sends a malicious HTTP POST request to the Up2Date component of the firewall. The JSON payload contains new DNS settings, directing the firewall to use a DNS server under the attacker’s control.
Recommended Mitigation
The recommended mitigation is to apply the vendor-provided patch for this vulnerability. For those using Sophos Firewall, this means upgrading to version 21.0 MR1 (20.0.1) or newer. In the interim, or if the patch cannot be applied immediately, a temporary solution would be to use a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) to monitor and block malicious traffic attempting to exploit this vulnerability. However, these are only temporary measures and upgrading to the patched version is strongly advised to ensure complete protection.