CVE-2026-116767 in Secure Access
Summary
by MITRE • 11/02/2026
CVE-2026-116767 is an improper input handling vulnerability in Secure Access servers prior to 14.61. Authenticated attackers can cause a persistent denial of service.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/02/2026
The vulnerability designated as CVE-2026-116767 represents a critical security flaw within the architecture of Secure Access servers, specifically affecting versions released before version 14.61. This issue is classified under the category of improper input handling, which indicates that the software fails to adequately validate, sanitize, or constrain user-supplied data before processing it. In this specific context, the vulnerability allows authenticated attackers to exploit weaknesses in how the server processes incoming requests, leading directly to a persistent denial of service condition. The requirement for authentication suggests that while the attack surface is somewhat restricted compared to unauthenticated exploits, it still poses a significant risk to organizations where insider threats or compromised legitimate credentials are a concern.
From a technical perspective, improper input handling vulnerabilities often stem from insufficient boundary checks or logic errors in parsing mechanisms. When an authenticated user submits specially crafted data, the Secure Access server likely fails to handle edge cases correctly, causing internal processes to hang, crash, or enter an unrecoverable state. Unlike transient crashes that might resolve upon service restart without persistent impact, this vulnerability results in a persistent denial of service. This implies that the exploitation may corrupt configuration files, exhaust critical system resources permanently until manual intervention occurs, or trigger a failure mode that requires administrative reset rather than automatic recovery. The persistence aspect significantly elevates the severity, as it necessitates active remediation efforts to restore normal operations, thereby increasing operational overhead and downtime costs for affected organizations.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is substantial, particularly in environments where high availability is paramount. Secure Access servers typically serve as gateways for remote users or network access control points; therefore, a denial of service effectively blocks legitimate traffic from reaching protected resources. Because the attack requires authentication, it may be difficult to detect via standard perimeter monitoring tools that focus on external threats. An attacker with valid credentials could deliberately trigger this condition during off-hours or critical business periods, causing significant disruption without immediately raising alarms associated with brute-force attacks or unauthorized access attempts. The persistent nature of the outage means that even after the initial attack vector is identified and stopped, the system may remain non-functional until patches are applied or configurations are restored from backups, leading to extended service interruptions.
In terms of industry standards classification, this vulnerability aligns closely with CWE-20 Improper Input Validation within the Common Weakness Enumeration framework. The failure to properly validate inputs allows for resource exhaustion or state corruption that leads to availability loss. Furthermore, in the context of the MITRE ATT&CK framework, this behavior can be associated with techniques related to Resource Hijacking or Service Stop/Disablement under the Impact tactic. Attackers may leverage these capabilities to disrupt business operations as a form of sabotage rather than data theft, which is increasingly common in modern threat landscapes where availability attacks are used for extortion or competitive advantage.
Mitigation strategies must focus on both immediate remediation and long-term architectural improvements. The primary and most effective mitigation is the application of vendor-provided patches that update the Secure Access servers to version 14.61 or later, which addresses the underlying input handling flaws. Organizations should prioritize patching efforts for all systems running vulnerable versions, especially those exposed to internal networks where authenticated users operate. Additionally, implementing strict access controls and monitoring for unusual patterns of authentication followed by service degradation can help detect potential exploitation attempts early. Regular audits of user permissions are also recommended to ensure that only necessary personnel have administrative or high-level access rights, thereby reducing the pool of potential attackers who could trigger this denial of service condition.