CVE-2007-2059 in Enterprise Security Analyzer
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple buffer overflows in the ESA protocol implementation in eIQnetworks Enterprise Security Analyzer (ESA) 2.5 allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a long parameter to the (1) DELETESEARCHFOLDER, (2) DELTASK, (3) HMGR_CHECKHOSTSCSV, (4) TASKUPDATEDUSER, (5) VERIFYUSERKEY, or (6) VERIFYPWD command.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/18/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2007-2059 represents a critical buffer overflow issue within the ESA protocol implementation of eIQnetworks Enterprise Security Analyzer version 2.5. This software serves as a network security analysis platform that processes various commands through its ESA protocol interface, making it a potential target for remote code execution attacks. The flaw specifically affects six distinct commands that handle different administrative and security functions within the system, creating multiple attack vectors for malicious actors seeking to compromise the affected environment.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from improper input validation within the ESA protocol handler, where the software fails to properly check the length of incoming parameters before processing them. When an attacker sends a specially crafted payload containing an excessively long parameter to any of the vulnerable commands, the application attempts to copy this data into a fixed-size buffer without bounds checking. This classic buffer overflow condition occurs because the implementation does not enforce parameter length limits or perform adequate sanitization of user-supplied data, allowing the overflow to overwrite adjacent memory regions including return addresses and control data.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and multifaceted, as it provides remote attackers with the ability to execute arbitrary code on the target system with the privileges of the ESA service account. This could lead to complete system compromise, data exfiltration, or establishment of persistent backdoors within network security infrastructure. The affected commands span different security functions including search folder management, task deletion, host CSV checking, user management, and authentication verification, meaning that attackers could potentially exploit this vulnerability to manipulate security configurations, bypass authentication mechanisms, or corrupt the integrity of the security analysis platform itself. The remote nature of the attack means that exploitation can occur from anywhere on the network without requiring local access or credentials.
From a cybersecurity framework perspective, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-121, which describes stack-based buffer overflow conditions, and represents a classic example of unsafe string handling in network protocols. The ATT&CK framework would categorize this as a remote code execution technique that could be leveraged for privilege escalation and persistence within network environments. Organizations using eIQnetworks Enterprise Security Analyzer 2.5 should immediately implement mitigations including network segmentation, firewall rules to restrict access to the ESA protocol ports, and application-level input validation. The most effective long-term solution involves upgrading to a patched version of the software, as the vulnerability cannot be adequately addressed through configuration changes alone. Security teams should also monitor for exploitation attempts through network traffic analysis and implement intrusion detection systems that can identify malformed ESA protocol requests containing suspicious parameter lengths.