CVE-2020-36164: Software Security Vulnerability Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-qr7j-48q9-7wvf
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Advisory Summary

CVE-2020-36164 is a HIGH security vulnerability vulnerability (General Security Weakness) affecting Software libraries in the Maven ecosystem. Remediation is available in the latest vendor maintenance releases.

CVE-2020-36164 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2020-36164
GHSA Identifier GHSA-qr7j-48q9-7wvf
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score N/A
CWE Classification General Security Weakness
Affected Product Software
Package Ecosystem Maven
Published Date
Last Updated

How to Fix CVE-2020-36164

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Software dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

mvn dependency:tree

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Java application is affected by CVE-2020-36164, inspect your build dependencies using the Maven Dependency Plugin:

mvn dependency:tree

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Software in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than the patched release), your application is affected.

Note: The mvn dependency:tree command inspects the resolved dependency graph declared in your project's POM files; it does not perform automated security scanning or inspect runtime dynamic classpaths. Always verify runtime container classpaths and shaded JARs.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under General Security Weakness. In Software, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

An issue was discovered in Veritas Enterprise Vault through 14.0. On start-up, it loads the OpenSSL library. The OpenSSL library then attempts to load the openssl.cnf configuration file (which does not exist) at the following locations in both the System drive (typically C:\) and the product's installation drive (typically not C:\): \Isode\etc\ssl\openssl.cnf (on SMTP Server) or \user\ssl\openssl.cnf (on other affected components). By default, on Windows systems, users can create directories under C:\. A low privileged user can create a openssl.cnf configuration file to load a malicious OpenSSL engine, resulting in arbitrary code execution as SYSTEM when the service starts. This gives the attacker administrator access on the system, allowing the attacker (by default) to access all data, access all installed applications, etc. This vulnerability only affects a server with MTP Server, SMTP Archiving IMAP Server, IMAP Archiving, Vault Cloud Adapter, NetApp File server, or File System Archiving for NetApp as File Server.

References

NVD — CVE-2020-36164 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-36164
Software Security Information SECURITY
https://www.veritas.com/content/support/en_US/security/VTS20-013

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2020-36164?
CVE-2020-36164 is a security vulnerability in Software classified as a security vulnerability vulnerability under General Security Weakness.
Which Software versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to current release patches.
What version fixes CVE-2020-36164?
Upgrading to current release patches (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2020-36164?
CVE-2020-36164 is classified under General Security Weakness.
How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2020-36164?
Run the dependency tree command: 'mvn dependency:tree'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-qr7j-48q9-7wvf",
  "modified" : "2022-05-24T17:38:05Z",
  "published" : "2022-05-24T17:38:05Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2020-36164" ],
  "details" : "An issue was discovered in Veritas Enterprise Vault through 14.0. On start-up, it loads the OpenSSL library. The OpenSSL library then attempts to load the openssl.cnf configuration file (which does not exist) at the following locations in both the System drive (typically C:\\) and the product's installation drive (typically not C:\\): \\Isode\\etc\\ssl\\openssl.cnf (on SMTP Server) or \\user\\ssl\\openssl.cnf (on other affected components). By default, on Windows systems, users can create directories under C:\\. A low privileged user can create a openssl.cnf configuration file to load a malicious OpenSSL engine, resulting in arbitrary code execution as SYSTEM when the service starts. This gives the attacker administrator access on the system, allowing the attacker (by default) to access all data, access all installed applications, etc. This vulnerability only affects a server with MTP Server, SMTP Archiving IMAP Server, IMAP Archiving, Vault Cloud Adapter, NetApp File server, or File System Archiving for NetApp as File Server.",
  "severity" : [ ],
  "affected" : [ ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-36164"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.veritas.com/content/support/en_US/security/VTS20-013"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : false,
    "github_reviewed_at" : null,
    "nvd_published_at" : "2021-01-06T01:15:00Z"
  }
}