CVE-2022-36978
Published: 29 March 2023
Summary
CVE-2022-36978 is a critical-severity Deserialization of Untrusted Data (CWE-502) vulnerability in Ivanti Avalanche. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).
Operationally, ranked in the top 0.6% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
Deeper analysis
CVE-2022-36978 is a deserialization of untrusted data flaw, tracked as CWE-502, that affects the Notification Server service in Ivanti Avalanche 6.3.2.3490. The vulnerability stems from insufficient validation of user-supplied data and carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 9.8.
Although the attack requires authentication, the existing mechanism can be bypassed, allowing remote, unauthenticated attackers to supply malicious serialized objects and execute arbitrary code in the context of the service account.
The vendor addressed the issue in Avalanche 6.3.4, as noted in the corresponding release notes, while the Zero Day Initiative published advisory ZDI-22-783 for the flaw originally reported as ZDI-CAN-15448. The associated EPSS score has reached 0.8623.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2022-39635
Vulnerability details
This vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected installations of Ivanti Avalanche 6.3.2.3490. Although authentication is required to exploit this vulnerability, the existing authentication mechanism can be bypassed. The specific flaw exists within the Notification Server service.…
more
The issue results from the lack of proper validation of user-supplied data, which can result in deserialization of untrusted data. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of the service account. Was ZDI-CAN-15448.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
No named actor attribution yet. ATT&CK technique mapping in progress for this CVE.
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Likely Mitigating Controls AI
Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.
Penetration testing supplies malicious serialized objects, detecting unsafe deserialization and supporting corrective actions.
Evaluation of untrusted data handling (deserialization testing) reveals unsafe processing, which the required remediation process addresses.
Untrusted serialized data can be deserialized and observed inside the chamber, blocking gadget-chain exploitation outside the sandbox.
Validates or rejects untrusted serialized data before deserialization occurs.
Identifies and blocks malicious code introduced through deserialization of untrusted data at system boundaries.
Integrity verification of serialized information can detect tampering before deserialization occurs.
Provenance of associated data allows detection of untrusted sources before deserialization or processing occurs.