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F5 BIG-IP UNAUTHENTICATED RCE VIA HTTP REQUEST SMUGGLING
October 27, 2023 KS Threat Research Security Advisory Leave a comment
Written by Scott Emerson of the Kudelski Security Threat Detection & Research
Team
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY
Researchers at Praetorian have discovered a request smuggling vulnerability that
could be leveraged to bypass authentication and achieve remote code execution on
F5 BIG-IP appliances. The vulnerability impacts systems where the Traffic
Management User Interface (TMUI) is exposed to untrusted networks like the
internet. An attacker can exploit how requests are parsed differently between
the frontend and backend systems to forge requests, which in this particular
context allows for privileged remote code execution. The vulnerability was
assigned CVE-2023-46747 and is a close relative of CVE-2022-26377.
AFFECTED SYSTEMS AND/OR APPLICATION
F5 BIG-IP appliances running the Apache HTTP Server and Tomcat components are
vulnerable if the TMUI is accessible from external networks. By exploiting
differences in how requests are handled, an attacker can bypass authentication
checks intended to restrict access to administrative interfaces.
Vulnerable BIG-IP Versions
Vulnerable versionsFixes introduced17.1.017.1.0.3 +
Hotfix-BIGIP-17.1.0.3.0.75.4-ENG16.1.0 – 16.1.416.1.4.1 +
Hotfix-BIGIP-16.1.4.1.0.50.5-ENG15.1.0 – 15.1.1015.1.10.2 +
Hotfix-BIGIP-15.1.10.2.0.44.2-ENG14.1.0 – 14.1.514.1.5.6
+ Hotfix-BIGIP-14.1.5.6.0.10.6-ENG13.1.0 – 13.1.513.1.5.1 +
Hotfix-BIGIP-13.1.5.1.0.20.2-ENG
Further details in F5’s advisory
TECHNICAL DETAILS / ATTACK OVERVIEW
The vulnerability allows an attacker to construct HTTP requests that would be
interpreted differently by the frontend and backend systems interacting over the
Apache JServ Protocol (AJP). By abusing differences in how headers like
Transfer-Encoding are processed, a follow-up request can be smuggled in and
handled unexpectedly. This allows authentication bypass and the remote execution
of commands with root privileges if left unpatched.
TEMPORARY WORKAROUNDS AND MITIGATIONS
Follow the directions in F5’s advisory and apply the provided hotfix.
Additionally, considering the TMUI service’s recent track record with RCE bugs,
the CFC echoes F5’s and Praetorian’s recommendations to ensure the TMUI
interface isn’t accessible via untrusted external networks or self IP addresses.
Please see the advisory linked above for specific instructions.
WHAT THE CYBER FUSION CENTER (CFC) IS DOING
At the time of writing, vulnerability scan plugins for CVE-2023-46747 have not
been released, but are forthcoming. As soon as the plugins are available and
vulnerability scans have run, clients with the relevant service will receive
cases if applicable.
The CFC will continue to monitor the situation and decide on next steps like a
threat hunting campaign if the relevant data are available and actionable.
SOURCES
* https://www.praetorian.com/blog/refresh-compromising-f5-big-ip-with-request-smuggling-cve-2023-46747/
* https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-26377
* https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-46747
* https://my.f5.com/manage/s/article/K000137353
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RELATED
Security Advisory: F5 BIG-IP Critical Severity RCE Vulnerability
CVE-2020-5902July 6, 2020In "Security Advisory"
Security Advisory – Critical Apache Struts Vulnerability
(CVE-2017-9805)September 7, 2017In "Vulnerability Notification"
BIG-IP iControl REST API Authentication BypassMay 6, 2022In "Security Advisory"
Security Advisory
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