CVE-2023-29486 Vulnerability Analysis & Exploit Details

CVE-2023-29486
Vulnerability Scoring

9.8
/10
Critical Risk

As a catastrophic security flaw, CVE-2023-29486 has severe implications, demanding immediate intervention.

Attack Complexity Details

  • Attack Complexity: Low
    Exploits can be performed without significant complexity or special conditions.
  • Attack Vector: Network
    Vulnerability is exploitable over a network without physical access.
  • Privileges Required: None
    No privileges are required for exploitation.
  • Scope: Unchanged
    Exploit remains within the originally vulnerable component.
  • User Interaction: None
    No user interaction is necessary for exploitation.

CVE-2023-29486 Details

Status: Modified

Last updated: 🕢 21 Nov 2024, 07:57 UTC
Originally published on: 🕐 21 Dec 2023, 01:15 UTC

Time between publication and last update: 336 days

CVSS Release: version 3

CVSS3 Source

nvd@nist.gov

CVSS3 Type

Primary

CVSS3 Vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVE-2023-29486 Vulnerability Summary

CVE-2023-29486: An issue was discovered in Heimdal Thor agent versions 3.4.2 and before 3.7.0 on Windows, allows attackers to bypass USB access restrictions, execute arbitrary code, and obtain sensitive information via Next-Gen Antivirus component. NOTE: Heimdal argues that the limitation described here is a Microsoft Windows issue, not a Heimdal specific vulnerability. The USB control solution by Heimdal is meant to manage Microsoft Windows native USB restrictions. They maintain that their solution functions as a management layer over Windows settings and is not to blame for limitations in Windows' detection capabilities.

Assessing the Risk of CVE-2023-29486

Access Complexity Graph

The exploitability of CVE-2023-29486 depends on two key factors: attack complexity (the level of effort required to execute an exploit) and privileges required (the access level an attacker needs).

Exploitability Analysis for CVE-2023-29486

With low attack complexity and no required privileges, CVE-2023-29486 is an easy target for cybercriminals. Organizations should prioritize immediate mitigation measures to prevent unauthorized access and data breaches.

Understanding AC and PR

A lower complexity and fewer privilege requirements make exploitation easier. Security teams should evaluate these aspects to determine the urgency of mitigation strategies, such as patch management and access control policies.

Attack Complexity (AC) measures the difficulty in executing an exploit. A high AC means that specific conditions must be met, making an attack more challenging, while a low AC means the vulnerability can be exploited with minimal effort.

Privileges Required (PR) determine the level of system access necessary for an attack. Vulnerabilities requiring no privileges are more accessible to attackers, whereas high privilege requirements limit exploitation to authorized users with elevated access.

CVSS Score Breakdown Chart

Above is the CVSS Sub-score Breakdown for CVE-2023-29486, illustrating how Base, Impact, and Exploitability factors combine to form the overall severity rating. A higher sub-score typically indicates a more severe or easier-to-exploit vulnerability.

CIA Impact Analysis

Below is the Impact Analysis for CVE-2023-29486, showing how Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability might be affected if the vulnerability is exploited. Higher values usually signal greater potential damage.

  • Confidentiality: High
    Exploiting CVE-2023-29486 can result in unauthorized access to sensitive data, severely compromising data privacy.
  • Integrity: High
    CVE-2023-29486 could allow unauthorized modifications to data, potentially affecting system reliability and trust.
  • Availability: High
    CVE-2023-29486 can disrupt system operations, potentially causing complete denial of service (DoS).

Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS)

The EPSS score estimates the probability that this vulnerability will be exploited in the near future.

EPSS Score: 0.4% (probability of exploit)

EPSS Percentile: 73.84% (lower percentile = lower relative risk)
This vulnerability is less risky than approximately 26.159999999999997% of others.

CVE-2023-29486 References

External References

CWE Common Weakness Enumeration

CWE-1333

CAPEC Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification

  • Regular Expression Exponential Blowup CAPEC-492 An adversary may execute an attack on a program that uses a poor Regular Expression(Regex) implementation by choosing input that results in an extreme situation for the Regex. A typical extreme situation operates at exponential time compared to the input size. This is due to most implementations using a Nondeterministic Finite Automaton(NFA) state machine to be built by the Regex algorithm since NFA allows backtracking and thus more complex regular expressions.

Vulnerable Configurations

  • cpe:2.3:a:heimdalsecurity:thor:2.5.170:rc:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:heimdalsecurity:thor:2.5.170:rc:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:heimdalsecurity:thor:2.5.171:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:heimdalsecurity:thor:2.5.171:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:heimdalsecurity:thor:2.5.172:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:heimdalsecurity:thor:2.5.172:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:heimdalsecurity:thor:2.5.173:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:heimdalsecurity:thor:2.5.173:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:heimdalsecurity:thor:2.6.9:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:heimdalsecurity:thor:2.6.9:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:heimdalsecurity:thor:3.5.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:heimdalsecurity:thor:3.5.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:o:apple:macos:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:o:apple:macos:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

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