CVE-2017-20015 in INTEREST Security Scanner
Summary
by MITRE • 03/29/2022
** UNSUPPORTED WHEN ASSIGNED ** A vulnerability, which was classified as problematic, was found in WEKA INTEREST Security Scanner up to 1.8. This affects an unknown part of the component LAN Viewer. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to denial of service. Attacking locally is a requirement. The exploit has been disclosed to the public and may be used. NOTE: This vulnerability only affects products that are no longer supported by the maintainer.
If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/06/2024
CVE-2017-20015 represents a denial of service vulnerability within the WEKA INTEREST Security Scanner version 1.8 and earlier, specifically impacting the LAN Viewer component. This vulnerability classification aligns with CWE-400, which addresses unspecified denial of service conditions in software systems. The flaw manifests when an attacker manipulates an unknown input parameter within the LAN Viewer functionality, leading to system disruption that prevents normal operational procedures from executing properly. The vulnerability requires local access for exploitation, indicating that attackers must already have physical or network-level access to the target system to leverage this weakness. This requirement for local execution reduces the attack surface compared to remotely exploitable vulnerabilities but still presents significant risk in environments where privileged access is compromised or where insider threats exist. The public disclosure of this exploit further amplifies the threat landscape, as malicious actors can readily implement the attack vector without requiring advanced technical skills or extensive research. The vulnerability's impact is particularly concerning given that it affects a security scanning tool, which typically operates with elevated privileges and has access to critical network infrastructure components. The fact that this vulnerability only affects unsupported products creates additional security implications, as organizations relying on deprecated software versions may not receive security updates or patches to address such weaknesses. This scenario exemplifies the ATT&CK technique of using deprecated software to maintain persistence or execute attacks, as legacy systems often contain undiscovered vulnerabilities that remain unpatched due to their unsupported status. The LAN Viewer component likely handles network traffic monitoring or visualization functions, making it a critical subsystem within the security scanner that could be leveraged to disrupt network security operations and potentially provide attackers with opportunities to escalate privileges or bypass other security controls.
The technical nature of this vulnerability demonstrates how seemingly minor input handling flaws can result in significant operational disruptions within security tools. The unspecified input manipulation suggests that the vulnerability may stem from inadequate validation or sanitization of user-supplied data within the LAN Viewer module, potentially involving buffer overflows, memory corruption, or improper resource management. This type of vulnerability commonly occurs when developers fail to implement proper input boundaries checking or when legacy code lacks modern security hardening practices. The denial of service condition could manifest through various mechanisms including application crashes, resource exhaustion, or system lockups that prevent legitimate users from accessing the security scanning functionality. The requirement for local exploitation indicates that network-level protections such as firewalls or access controls may have been bypassed, or that the vulnerability exists within a component that operates with elevated privileges within the local security context. Organizations utilizing unsupported software versions face particular risk because they cannot benefit from vendor security updates, leaving these systems vulnerable to known attack patterns that have been documented and publicly shared. The timing of this vulnerability disclosure, occurring in 2017, suggests that it may have been part of a broader set of security issues affecting legacy software components that were subsequently abandoned by vendors, leaving organizations to manage these risks independently.
Organizations maintaining legacy security scanning infrastructure face multiple operational challenges when confronted with vulnerabilities like CVE-2017-20015. The unsupported nature of the affected software creates a particularly difficult security management scenario where traditional patch management processes are unavailable, forcing organizations to rely on alternative mitigation strategies. The local execution requirement means that organizations should focus on strengthening local access controls and implementing robust privilege management policies to prevent unauthorized local access to security scanning systems. Security teams should conduct comprehensive inventory assessments to identify all instances of the affected software within their network infrastructure and prioritize their remediation or replacement. The vulnerability's impact on LAN Viewer functionality suggests that network monitoring and visualization capabilities may be compromised, potentially leaving organizations blind to network activities during the period when the vulnerability exists. Implementation of network segmentation and microsegmentation strategies can help limit the potential impact of such vulnerabilities by containing attacks within specific network segments. Organizations should also consider implementing additional monitoring and alerting mechanisms to detect unusual system behavior that might indicate exploitation attempts. The public availability of the exploit underscores the importance of maintaining current threat intelligence feeds and ensuring that security teams are aware of relevant vulnerabilities affecting their infrastructure. Given the deprecated status of the affected software, long-term migration planning should be prioritized to ensure that legacy systems are replaced with supported, secure alternatives that receive ongoing security updates and vendor support. This vulnerability serves as a critical reminder of the risks associated with maintaining unsupported software in production environments, particularly within security-critical applications where the consequences of exploitation can extend far beyond simple service disruption.