CVE-2023-28971
Juniper Paragon Active Assurance ≤ 4.1.2
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:NSummary
CVE-2023-28971 is a high-severity Improper Restriction of Communication Channel to Intended Endpoints (CWE-923) vulnerability in Juniper Paragon Active Assurance. Its CVSS base score is 7.2 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Adversary-in-the-Middle (T1557); ranked at the 31th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-32589
Vulnerability Data
An Improper Restriction of Communication Channel to Intended Endpoints vulnerability in the timescaledb feature of Juniper Networks Paragon Active Assurance (PAA) (Formerly Netrounds) allows an attacker to bypass existing firewall rules and limitations used to restrict internal communcations. The Test…
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Agents (TA) Appliance connects to the Control Center (CC) using OpenVPN. TA's are assigned an internal IP address in the 100.70.0.0/16 range. Firewall rules exists to limit communication from TA's to the CC to specific services only. OpenVPN is configured to not allow direct communication between Test Agents in the OpenVPN application itself, and routing is normally not enabled on the server running the CC application. The timescaledb feature is installed as an optional package on the Control Center. When the timescaledb container is started, this causes side-effects by bypassing the existing firewall rules and limitations for Test Agent communications. Note: This issue only affects customers hosting their own on-prem Control Center. The Paragon Active Assurance Software as a Service (SaaS) is not affected by this vulnerability since the timescaledb service is not enabled. This issue affects all on-prem versions of Juniper Networks Paragon Active Assurance prior to 4.1.2.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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- 5 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
V8.4.1V10.5.5V12.3.5
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.
Authorizing wireless access restricts the wireless communication channel to only intended endpoints.
Approving specific exchanges and documenting interface characteristics restricts communication channels to only intended endpoints and systems.
Limits physical connectivity to transmission channels, supporting restriction of communication paths to only intended endpoints.
Requiring providers to meet communication-channel restrictions and monitoring adherence reduces improper restriction of channels to intended endpoints.
Mandates restriction of the channel for authentication to only the intended trusted endpoints, blocking unauthorized communication paths.
Explicit control of VoIP traffic forces organizations to restrict communication channels to only intended endpoints and protocols.
Explicit internal/external separation restricts name-resolution channels to their intended communication endpoints.
Enforces that the wireless communication channel is usable only by intended endpoints, addressing improper channel restriction.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Network segmentation and access controls directly enforce communication only with intended endpoints.
Authenticating services/hardware directly prevents communication with unintended endpoints.
Data-in-transit protections commonly include certificate-based endpoint authentication to ensure correct peers.
Documenting authorized flows helps define intended endpoints but does not enforce channel restrictions at runtime.
Protecting identity assertions supports endpoint verification but is narrower than channel restriction.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Secure authentication mechanisms ensure the product communicates only with intended, authenticated endpoints.
Network security controls directly enforce endpoint validation and channel restrictions.
Security of network services includes authentication of endpoints and service-to-service channel protection.
Network segregation reduces exposure but does not itself validate specific endpoints.
Cryptography can protect channels but does not guarantee correct endpoint identity without additional controls.
Application security requirements may specify endpoint validation but do not implement it.
Hardening callouts derived
Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).
Oracle Linux 8 (2 rules)
- V-248827 OL 8 must not have the rsh-server package installed. prevents CWE-923
- V-248823 OL 8 must not have the telnet-server package installed. prevents CWE-923
RHEL 7 (1 rule)
- V-204442 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must not have the rsh-server package installed. prevents CWE-923
RHEL 8 (2 rules)
- V-230492 RHEL 8 must not have the rsh-server package installed. prevents CWE-923
- V-230487 RHEL 8 must not have the telnet-server package installed. prevents CWE-923