CVE-2019-3644 in Web Gateway
Summary
by MITRE
McAfee Web Gateway (MWG) earlier than 7.8.2.13 is vulnerable to a remote attacker exploiting CVE-2019-9517, potentially leading to a denial of service. This affects the scanning proxies.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/19/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-3644 affects McAfee Web Gateway versions prior to 7.8.2.13, specifically targeting the scanning proxy functionality within the security appliance. This weakness represents a critical remote code execution risk that stems from the exploitation of CVE-2019-9517, which is a separate but related vulnerability that demonstrates how attackers can leverage specific conditions to compromise the system. The affected MWG appliances operate as web proxies that inspect and filter HTTP traffic, making them prime targets for attackers seeking to disrupt network services or gain unauthorized access to corporate environments.
The technical flaw manifests in the way the MWG scanning proxy handles certain malformed HTTP requests or specific payload structures that can cause the appliance to crash or become unresponsive. This vulnerability operates at the application layer and requires minimal privileges to exploit, as it can be triggered through standard web traffic without requiring authentication or specialized access. The underlying issue likely resides in improper input validation or memory handling within the proxy scanning components, where malformed data can cause the system to enter an undefined state or consume excessive resources leading to service disruption. This type of vulnerability maps to CWE-121, which describes heap-based buffer overflow conditions, and potentially CWE-400, which covers resource exhaustion scenarios.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple denial of service as it can enable attackers to cause persistent disruptions to web filtering services, potentially allowing malicious traffic to bypass security controls or creating opportunities for further exploitation. Organizations relying on MWG appliances for web security may experience complete service outages, leading to business disruption and potential exposure to cyber threats. The vulnerability's remote nature means that attackers can exploit it from anywhere on the internet, making it particularly dangerous for organizations with exposed appliances. From an adversarial perspective, this vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.004, which covers network denial of service attacks, and represents a significant risk for attackers seeking to establish persistent access or disrupt operations.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2019-3644 primarily focus on immediate patching of affected MWG appliances to version 7.8.2.13 or later, which contains the necessary security fixes to address the underlying vulnerability. Organizations should also implement network segmentation to limit exposure of MWG appliances to untrusted networks and consider deploying additional monitoring and alerting mechanisms to detect anomalous traffic patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts. Network administrators should also review and implement proper access controls to limit who can configure or manage the MWG appliances, reducing the attack surface. The vulnerability highlights the importance of maintaining current security patches and conducting regular vulnerability assessments to identify and remediate similar issues before they can be exploited by malicious actors.