Cybersecurity Blog | Ingalls Information Security

Veeam Server RCE Cybersecurity Advisory

Written by Cyrus Robinson | Mar 15, 2022 4:00:00 AM

The Veeam Distribution Service installed on Veeam Backup & Replication servers runs on TCP 9380 with default settings, and allows unauthenticated users to access internal API functions. This may allow a remote attacker to send input to the internal API which could lead to uploading and execution of malicious code.

Further, a vulnerability (CVE-2022-26504) exists in a component of Veeam Backup & Replication that is used for Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) integration. Authentication using non-administrative domain credentials is allowed via the Veeam.Backup.PSManager.exe process using default settings on TCP 8732.

Note: Only Veeam Backup & Replication installations with an SCVMM server registered are vulnerable to CVE-2022-26504. Default installations would not be affected; however, until they’re patched, they remain subject to the other two listed CVEs.

The vulnerabilities were reported by Nikita Petrov (Positive Technologies).


Affected Software / System

This advisory specifically applies to the following products:

  • Veeam Backup & Replication v9.5
  • Veeam Backup & Replication v10
  • Veeam Backup & Replication v11



CVE (if applicable)

  • CVE-2022-26500
  • CVE-2022-26501
  • CVE-2022-26504


Type

Veeam Distribution Service Remote Code Execution


Exploit Status: 

Unknown. No known POCs are available yet, but weaponization is anticipated soon.


Rating

CVE-2022-26500 & CVE-2022-26501
Severity: Critical
CVSS v3 score: 9.8

CVE-2022-26504
Severity: Important/High
CVSS v3 score: 8.8


Impact

Vulnerabilities CVE-2022-26500 and CVE-2022-26501 in Veeam Backup & Replication allow executing malicious code remotely without authentication. This may lead to gaining control over the target system.

Vulnerability CVE-2022-26504 allows for authentication using non-administrative domain credentials. This vulnerability allows malicious domain users to remotely execute arbitrary code and may lead to gaining control over the target system.

Once a targeted system is compromised, there is a high risk of an organization's infrastructure backups being corrupted and/or ransomed, as well as a risk of lateral movement by the threat actor.

In general, Ingalls highly discourages organizations from exposing Veeam servers to the Internet. If these servers are web-exposed, these vulnerabilities can be leveraged for lateral movement, privilege escalation, data exfiltration, and to establish persistence post-compromise.


Temporary Mitigation

Disable the Veeam Distribution Service: The most secure mitigation option is for organizations to disable the Distribution Service on the Backup & Replication server (and any specified as distribution servers in Protection Groups) until it can be patched. However, this may not be possible or appropriate in all environments.

Mitigation/Workaround Impact: Disabling the Distribution Service prevents the Veeam architecture from uploading the Veeam Agent setup file, preventing automated agent deployment.


Ingalls recommends the following actions:

Veeam has released two new versions of Veeam Backup & Replication to address all three of these vulnerabilities. It is recommended that the latest version respective of your installations be installed immediately on the Veeam Backup & Replication server. Managed servers with Veeam Distribution Service will be updated automatically after installing the patch.

VEEAM BACKUP & REPLICATION V9.5

Veeam Backup & Replication v9.5 is currently unsupported. If you are running Veeam Backup & Replication v9.5 U4b v9.5.4.2866 use the ISO to upgrade to Veeam Backup & Replication v11a 11.0.1.1261 P20220302.

VEEAM BACKUP & REPLICATION V10

Veeam Backup & Replication v10a v10.0.1.4854 P20220304 addresses the above three vulnerabilities when you install it on the Veeam Backup & Replication Server.

This patch can be installed on Veeam Backup & Replication installations running v10.0.1.4854. When running a previous version of Veeam Backup & Replication, update to version 10a (10.0.1.4854) before installing the patch.

Note: Installing the patch to address these three vulnerabilities will prevent upgrades to Veeam Backup & Replication v11 and will only be compatible with an upgrade to Veeam Backup & Replication v11a.

Note: Veeam Cloud Connect service providers running Veeam Backup & Replication v10a need to upgrade directly to version 11 instead.

VEEAM BACKUP & REPLICATION V11

Veeam Backup & Replication v11a 11.0.1.1261 P20220302 addresses the above three vulnerabilities when you install it on the Veeam Backup & Replication Server.

This patch can be installed on Veeam Backup & Replication installations running v11.0.1.1261. When running a previous version of Veeam Backup & Replication, update to version 10a (10.0.1.4854) before installing the patch.

 

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