CVE-2014-8952 in Security Gateway
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple unspecified vulnerabilities in Check Point Security Gateway R75.40VS, R75.45, R75.46, R75.47, R76, R77, and R77.10, when the (1) IPS blade, (2) IPsec Remote Access, (3) Mobile Access / SSL VPN blade, (4) SSL Network Extender, (5) Identify Awareness blade, (6) HTTPS Inspection, (7) UserCheck, or (8) Data Leak Prevention blade module is enabled, allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service ("stability issue") via an unspecified "traffic condition."
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/24/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-8952 represents a critical stability issue affecting multiple Check Point Security Gateway versions including R75.40VS through R77.10. This vulnerability manifests when specific security blade modules are enabled, creating a remote denial of service condition that can severely impact network security operations. The affected modules encompass essential security functionalities including IPS blade for intrusion prevention, IPsec Remote Access for secure connections, Mobile Access/SSL VPN blade for remote access, SSL Network Extender for secure network extension, Identify Awareness blade for user identification, HTTPS Inspection for secure web traffic analysis, UserCheck for user authentication, and Data Leak Prevention blade for content protection. The unspecified nature of the traffic condition suggests that attackers can exploit various network traffic patterns to trigger the stability issues, making this vulnerability particularly dangerous as it can be activated through multiple attack vectors. This vulnerability directly impacts the availability of security services by causing the affected security gateway to become unstable or crash, thereby removing critical network protection mechanisms from operation. The remote exploitation capability means that attackers can trigger these stability issues without requiring physical access or local network presence, making the vulnerability accessible to anyone who can send traffic to the affected system. The technical flaw appears to be rooted in how the security gateway processes network traffic when these specific blade modules are active, potentially involving buffer overflows, memory corruption, or improper state handling within the processing pipelines. According to CWE classification, this vulnerability could be categorized as CWE-119, which represents "Improper Access to Memory Location" or CWE-476, "NULL Pointer Dereference," indicating potential memory management issues within the security gateway's processing modules. The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption as it can compromise the entire security infrastructure of an organization, leaving networks exposed to attacks while the security gateway is destabilized. Organizations relying on these security gateway versions with enabled blade modules face significant risk of security breaches during the periods when the system experiences stability issues, as the gateway may fail to properly inspect traffic, prevent intrusions, or maintain secure connections. The vulnerability's potential for remote exploitation without authentication requirements makes it particularly attractive to attackers seeking to disrupt security operations or create opportunities for more sophisticated attacks. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to T1499.004, "Endpoint Denial of Service," and T1566.002, "Phishing via Service," as it can be exploited through network traffic to cause service disruption. The exploitation requires no special privileges and can be performed through standard network traffic, making it accessible to a wide range of threat actors. Organizations should immediately implement mitigations including disabling unnecessary security blade modules, applying available patches from Check Point, and implementing network segmentation to limit the impact of potential exploitation. Network monitoring should be enhanced to detect unusual traffic patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts, and incident response procedures should be updated to address potential stability issues that could compromise security infrastructure. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date security gateway configurations and the risks associated with enabling multiple security modules simultaneously, as the interaction between these modules can create unexpected stability issues. Regular vulnerability assessments and security gateway audits should be conducted to identify and remediate similar issues before they can be exploited by malicious actors.