CVE-2021-27877 is a high-severity vulnerability found in Veritas Backup Exec versions prior to 21.2. This issue arises from the support of multiple authentication schemes, including SHA authentication, which has not been disabled in earlier versions. Attackers may leverage this vulnerability to gain unauthorized access to an Agent, potentially executing privileged commands remotely. The CVSS score of 8.2 indicates a significant risk, necessitating immediate attention from affected organizations.
The vulnerability was published on March 1, 2021, and has since been classified as analyzed. Given its potential impact, organizations utilizing affected versions of Veritas Backup Exec should take this vulnerability seriously. The urgency for remediation is critical, especially considering the nature of the access that could be gained by an attacker.
Veritas has acknowledged this issue and provided guidance for remediation. Organizations should promptly apply the recommended updates to mitigate the risk associated with this vulnerability. Failure to do so could expose systems to unauthorized access and serious operational impacts.
Given the high severity of this vulnerability, organizations should prioritize patching immediately. Regular updates and monitoring are essential to prevent exploitation and safeguard sensitive data.
Vulnerability Details
An issue was discovered in Veritas Backup Exec before 21.2. It supports multiple authentication schemes: SHA authentication is one of these. This authentication scheme is no longer used in current versions of the product, but hadn't yet been disabled. An attacker could remotely exploit this scheme to gain unauthorized access to an Agent and execute privileged commands.
The CVSS score for this vulnerability is 8.2, which reflects a high severity level. The potential impacts include unauthorized access and command execution, with a high confidentiality impact and low integrity impact. The publication date of the CVE was March 1, 2021, and it has been assigned a CVE identifier by Mitre.
Technical Analysis
The root cause of CVE-2021-27877 is the failure to disable outdated SHA authentication in older versions of Veritas Backup Exec. The attack vector is network-based, allowing remote exploitation without the need for local access. The complexity of the attack is classified as low, meaning that an attacker does not require advanced skills to execute an exploit.
No privileges are required for exploitation, and user interaction is not necessary. The vulnerability has a substantial confidentiality impact, allowing unauthorized access to sensitive information, while the integrity impact is low, indicating that the attacker may not modify the data.
Risk & Impact Analysis
Risk to organizations includes unauthorized access to sensitive data and the potential execution of privileged commands. This vulnerability could be exploited by attackers to compromise the integrity of backup operations. The blast radius potential is significant, especially for organizations relying heavily on backup solutions for data integrity and recovery.
The urgency assessment indicates that organizations should address this vulnerability in their priority patch cycle. Given its classification in the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, immediate action is warranted to prevent potential exploitation.
Exploitation Status
Signal | Status |
|---|---|
Known Exploit | No |
Public PoC | No |
Actively Exploited | Yes |
Ransomware Use | Yes |
Affected Versions
All versions of Veritas Backup Exec prior to 21.2 are affected by this vulnerability. Organizations must ensure that they are operating on the latest version to mitigate potential exploits.
Mitigation & Remediation
Organizations should apply updates per vendor instructions to remediate this vulnerability. It is crucial to disable the outdated SHA authentication scheme and ensure all systems are running on the latest version. Regularly reviewing and updating configurations can prevent similar vulnerabilities in the future. For comprehensive security, organizations may consider deploying penetration testing to identify other weaknesses.
Detection Guidance
To detect potential exploitation attempts, organizations should monitor log indicators for unauthorized access attempts, particularly those related to the backup execution processes. Behavioral anomalies should be investigated, and network signatures should be established to identify any suspicious activities related to the Backup Exec Agent.
AppSecure Threat Intelligence Insight
CVE-2021-27877 represents a critical vulnerability that could lead to unauthorized access and command execution. The recognition of this vulnerability in the known exploited vulnerabilities catalog highlights its significance in the threat landscape. Security teams should prioritize awareness and training regarding this and similar vulnerabilities. Regularly updating security tools and practices can help mitigate risks in the evolving threat landscape.
For strategic defensive insights, organizations should consider implementing continuous threat monitoring and engage in red teaming exercises to identify vulnerabilities proactively.
Additionally, organizations can benefit from leveraging application security assessments to further strengthen their security posture.
Finally, organizations should stay informed on emerging threats and vulnerabilities through ongoing education and engagement with security communities.
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
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