Remote code execution in strongSwan

1) Expired pointer dereference

EUVDB-ID: #VU79677

Risk: High

CVSSv3.1: 8.5 [CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C]

CVE-ID: CVE-2023-26463

CWE-ID: CWE-825 - Expired pointer dereference

Exploit availability: No

Description

The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to compromise the affected system.

The vulnerability exists due to an error in libtls implementation that treats the public key from the peer's certificate as trusted, even if the certificate can't be verified successfully. A remote attacker can supply a self-signed certificate to a server that authenticates clients with a TLS-based EAP method like EAP-TLS, trigger an expired pointer dereference and crash the server or execute arbitrary code.

Mitigation

Install updates from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

strongSwan: 5.9.8 - 5.9.9

External links

http://www.strongswan.org/blog/2023/03/02/strongswan-vulnerability-%28cve-2023-26463%29.html
http://github.com/strongswan/strongswan/releases
http://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20230517-0010/

Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

Yes. This vulnerability can be exploited by a remote non-authenticated attacker via the Internet.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability.