RCE in F5 nginx
CVE-2014-3556
The STARTTLS implementation in mail/ngx_mail_smtp_handler.c in the SMTP proxy in nginx 1.5.x and 1.6.x before 1.6.1 and 1.7.x before 1.7.4 does not properly restrict I/O buffering, which allows man-in-the-middle attackers to insert commands into encrypted SMTP sessions by sending a cleartext command that is processed after TLS is in place, related to a "plaintext command injection" attack, a similar issue to CVE-2011-0411.
Vulnerability class: Command Injection (OS Command Injection)
Published · last modified .
CVSS v2 metric
CVSS v2 base score 6.8 (Medium). Vector: AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P. This CVE predates CVSS v3 and has no v3 score from NVD.
EPSS exploit prediction
EPSS: 0.078 (94.5th percentile), scored .
Low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, but still tracked. 94th percentile — 94.5% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.
EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.078 · newest: 0.078 · change: 0.000
Affected products
Weakness classification (CWE)
Public proof-of-concept exploits
References
- marc.info/ (vendor-advisory, Third Party Advisory, Issue Tracking)
- bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi (Third Party Advisory, Issue Tracking)
- mailman.nginx.org/pipermail/nginx-announce/2014/000144.html (Vendor Advisory, mailing-list, Patch)
- nginx.org/download/patch.2014.starttls.txt (Patch, Vendor Advisory)
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2014-3556?
- CVE-2014-3556 is a vulnerability in F5 nginx, classified under Command Injection. Published 2014-12-29.
- Is CVE-2014-3556 known to be exploited?
- 2 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.