Multiple vulnerabilities in Nessus Network Monitor

Published: 2021-05-12 | Updated: 2024-06-07

Risk	Medium
Patch available	YES
Number of vulnerabilities	5
CVE-ID	CVE-2020-1971 CVE-2021-23840 CVE-2021-23841 CVE-2021-3449 CVE-2021-3450
CWE-ID	CWE-476 CWE-20 CWE-254
Exploitation vector	Network
Public exploit	Public exploit code for vulnerability #1 is available. Public exploit code for vulnerability #4 is available.
Vulnerable software	Nessus Network Monitor Client/Desktop applications / Software for system administration
Vendor	Tenable Network Security

Security Bulletin

This security bulletin contains information about 5 vulnerabilities.

1) NULL pointer dereference

EUVDB-ID: #VU48896

Risk: Medium

CVSSv4.0: 5.5 [CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P/U:Green]

CVE-ID: CVE-2020-1971

CWE-ID: CWE-476 - NULL Pointer Dereference

Exploit availability: Yes

Description

The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to perform a denial of service (DoS) attack.

The vulnerability exists due to a NULL pointer dereference error. A remote attacker can trigger denial of service conditions via the API functions TS_RESP_verify_response and TS_RESP_verify_token). If an attacker can control both items being compared then that attacker could trigger a crash. For example if the attacker can trick a client or server into checking a malicious certificate against a malicious CRL then this may occur. Note that some applications automatically download CRLs based on a URL embedded in a certificate. This checking happens prior to the signatures on the certificate and CRL being verified. OpenSSL's s_server, s_client and verify tools have support for the "-crl_download" option which implements automatic CRL downloading and this attack has been demonstrated to work against those tools. Note that an unrelated bug means that affected versions of OpenSSL cannot parse or construct correct encodings of EDIPARTYNAME. However it is possible to construct a malformed EDIPARTYNAME that OpenSSL's parser will accept and hence trigger this attack.

Mitigation

Install update from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

Nessus Network Monitor: 5.0 - 5.13.0

CPE2.3

External links

https://www.tenable.com/security/tns-2021-09

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. However, proof of concept for this vulnerability is available.

2) Input validation error

EUVDB-ID: #VU50745

Risk: Medium

CVSSv4.0: 6.6 [CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Green]

CVE-ID: CVE-2021-23840

CWE-ID: CWE-20 - Improper input validation

Exploit availability: No

Description

The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to perform a denial of service (DoS) attack.

The vulnerability exists due to insufficient validation of user-supplied input during EVP_CipherUpdate, EVP_EncryptUpdate and EVP_DecryptUpdate calls. A remote attacker can pass specially crafted input to the application and perform a denial of service (DoS) attack.

Mitigation

Install update from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

Nessus Network Monitor: 5.0 - 5.13.0

CPE2.3

External links

https://www.tenable.com/security/tns-2021-09

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.

3) NULL pointer dereference

EUVDB-ID: #VU50740

Risk: Medium

CVSSv4.0: 4.6 [CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Green]

CVE-ID: CVE-2021-23841

CWE-ID: CWE-476 - NULL Pointer Dereference

Exploit availability: No

Description

The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to perform a denial of service (DoS) attack.

The vulnerability exists due to a NULL pointer dereference error within the X509_issuer_and_serial_hash() function when parsing the issuer field in the X509 certificate. A remote attacker can supply a specially crafted certificate, trigger a NULL pointer dereference error and perform a denial of service (DoS) attack.

Mitigation

Install update from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

Nessus Network Monitor: 5.0 - 5.13.0

CPE2.3

External links

https://www.tenable.com/security/tns-2021-09

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.

4) NULL pointer dereference

EUVDB-ID: #VU51733

Risk: Medium

CVSSv4.0: 7.7 [CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P/U:Green]

CVE-ID: CVE-2021-3449

CWE-ID: CWE-476 - NULL Pointer Dereference

Exploit availability: Yes

Description

The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to perform a denial of service (DoS) attack.

The vulnerability exists due to a NULL pointer dereference error when processing TLSv1.2 renegotiations. A remote attacker can send a maliciously crafted renegotiation ClientHello message, which omits the signature_algorithms extension but includes a signature_algorithms_cert extension, trigger a NULL pointer dereference error and crash the server.

Mitigation

Install update from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

Nessus Network Monitor: 5.0 - 5.13.0

CPE2.3

External links

https://www.tenable.com/security/tns-2021-09

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. However, proof of concept for this vulnerability is available.

5) Security features bypass

EUVDB-ID: #VU51732

Risk: Medium

CVSSv4.0: 2.7 [CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Green]

CVE-ID: CVE-2021-3450

CWE-ID: CWE-254 - Security Features

Exploit availability: No

Description

The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to bypass implemented security restrictions.

The vulnerability exists due to an error in implementation of the X509_V_FLAG_X509_STRICT flag allows an attacker to overwrite a valid CA certificate using any non-CA certificate in the chain. As a result, a remote attacker can perform MitM attack.

Mitigation

Install update from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

Nessus Network Monitor: 5.0 - 5.13.0

CPE2.3

External links

https://www.tenable.com/security/tns-2021-09

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.