CVE-2021-23050 : What You Need to Know

A vulnerability has been identified in BIG-IP Advanced WAF, BIG-IP ASM, and NGINX App Protect that could allow a malicious actor to cause the bd process to terminate through an undisclosed HTML response. Here's what you need to know about CVE-2021-23050.

Understanding CVE-2021-23050

This section will provide an overview of the CVE-2021-23050 vulnerability, its impact, technical details, and mitigation steps to secure the affected systems.

What is CVE-2021-23050?

The vulnerability exists in BIG-IP Advanced WAF and BIG-IP ASM versions 16.0.x before 16.0.1.2 and 15.1.x before 15.1.3, as well as NGINX App Protect versions prior to 3.5.0. It occurs when a CSRF-enabled policy is configured on a virtual server, triggering the termination of the bd process due to an undisclosed HTML response.

The Impact of CVE-2021-23050

The vulnerability poses a risk of unauthorized termination of the bd process, potentially leading to service disruption and exploitation by threat actors. Organizations using the affected versions are advised to take immediate action to secure their systems.

Technical Details of CVE-2021-23050

In this section, we will dive deeper into the vulnerability description, affected systems and versions, as well as the exploitation mechanism.

Vulnerability Description

The vulnerability arises from the improper handling of HTML responses under specific circumstances, allowing an attacker to trigger the termination of critical processes within the affected applications.

Affected Systems and Versions

BIG-IP Advanced WAF and BIG-IP ASM versions 16.0.x before 16.0.1.2 and 15.1.x before 15.1.3, along with all versions of NGINX App Protect before 3.5.0, are confirmed to be impacted by this vulnerability.

Exploitation Mechanism

By exploiting the CSRF-enabled policy on a virtual server, malicious actors could send crafted HTML responses to trigger the bd process termination, potentially leading to service disruption.

Mitigation and Prevention

This section will outline immediate steps to take, long-term security practices, and the importance of timely patching and updates.

Immediate Steps to Take

Organizations should apply security patches provided by the vendors promptly, implement network-level protections, and monitor for any signs of exploitation or abnormal activity.

Long-Term Security Practices

To prevent similar vulnerabilities in the future, it is essential to follow security best practices, conduct regular security assessments, and ensure timely updates and patches are applied.

Patching and Updates

Vendors have released patches to address the vulnerability in affected versions. Organizations are strongly advised to apply these updates immediately to safeguard their systems against potential exploitation and service disruptions.