Vulnerability Note VU#173910

Multiple Symantec security appliances do not allow the SNMP read-write community string to be changed

Overview

A vulnerability exists in multiple Symantec security appliances that could allow a remote attacker to modify the configuration of the device using SNMP.

I. Description

The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) enables network and system administrators to remotely monitor and configure devices on the network (devices such as switches and routers). Symantec's Firewall/VPN and Gateway Security appliances support the SNMP protocol for management purposes. Certain versions of the Firewall/VPN and Gateway Security appliances contain a default SNMP community string that unintentionally grants read-write access to many SNMP objects. The administrative interface used to manage this device does not allow the community string to be changed nor allow the service to be disabled. By connecting to the SNMP port on an affected device and issuing SNMP SET/GET requests from source port 53/udp, a remote attacker could view and modify the configuration of that device.

Affected Products:

Symantec Firewall/VPN Appliance 100 (firmware builds prior to build 1.63)
Symantec Firewall/VPN Appliance 200/200R (firmware builds prior to build 1.63)
Symantec Gateway Security 320 (firmware builds prior to build 622)
Symantec Gateway Security 360/360R (firmware builds prior to build 622)

II. Impact

This vulnerability allows attackers to read and modify any SNMP object present on an affected device. Attackers exploiting this vulnerability can view and modify the configuration of these devices. Normally, you could mitigate against this vulnerability by restricting network access to the SNMP service. However, there is a vulnerability in the packet filtering feature of the Firewall/VPN and Gateway Security appliances that could allow an attacker to send packets to this service by specifying a source port of 53/udp (VU#329230).

III. Solution

Upgrade Firmware

According to the Symantec Advisory, product specific firmware and hotfixes are available via the Symantec Enterprise Support site.

http://www.symantec.com/techsupp/

Systems Affected

Vendor	Status	Date Notified	Date Updated
Symantec Corporation	Vulnerable	20-Oct-2004

References

http://www.sarc.com/avcenter/security/Content/2004.09.22.html
http://www.rigelksecurity.com/Services/Svcs_sec_advis.html
http://secunia.com/advisories/12635/
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/11237
http://www.securitytracker.com/alerts/2004/Sep/1011389.html
http://www.securitytracker.com/alerts/2004/Sep/1011388.html
http://www.osvdb.org/displayvuln.php?osvdb_id=10206

Credit

This vulnerability was reported by Symantec. Symantec credits Mike Sues and the Rigel Kent Security & Advisory Services for discovering the vulnerability.

This document was written by Damon Morda.

Other Information

Date Public:	2004-09-22
Date First Published:	2004-10-20
Date Last Updated:	2004-10-20
CERT Advisory:
CVE-ID(s):
NVD-ID(s):
US-CERT Technical Alerts:
Metric:	15.59
Document Revision:	16

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