#VU23963 Permissions, Privileges, and Access Controls in hostapd and wpa_supplicant - CVE-2019-9498

Vulnerability identifier: #VU23963

Vulnerability risk: High

CVSSv4.0: 7.2 [CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Amber]

CVE-ID: CVE-2019-9498

CWE-ID: CWE-264

Exploitation vector: Network

Exploit availability: No

Vulnerable software:
hostapd
Server applications / Remote access servers, VPN
wpa_supplicant
Server applications / Encryption software

Vendor: Jouni Malinen

Description

The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to escalate privileges on the system.

The vulnerability exists due to the implementations of EAP-PWD in hostapd EAP Server, when built against a crypto library missing explicit validation on imported elements, do not validate the scalar and element values in EAP-pwd-Commit. A remote attacker can use invalid scalar/element values to complete authentication.

This vulnerability affects the following products:

• hostapd with SAE support and wpa_supplicant with SAE support prior to and including version 2.4

• hostapd with EAP-pwd support and wpa_supplicant with EAP-pwd support prior to and including version 2.7

Mitigation
Install updates from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

hostapd: 1.0 - 2.7

wpa_supplicant: 1.0 - 2.7

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External links
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/56OBBOJJSKRTDGEXZOVFSTP4HDSDBLAE/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/SVMJOFEYBGXZLFF5IOLW67SSOPKFEJP3/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/TDOZGR3T7FVO5JSZWK2QPR7AOFIEJTIZ/
https://seclists.org/bugtraq/2019/May/40
https://security.FreeBSD.org/advisories/FreeBSD-SA-19:03.wpa.asc
https://w1.fi/security/2019-4/
https://www.synology.com/security/advisory/Synology_SA_19_16

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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.