On September 27, 2023, Progress Software published a security advisory on multiple vulnerabilities affecting WS_FTP Server, a secure file transfer solution. There are a number of vulnerabilities in the advisory, two of which are critical (CVE-2023-40044 and CVE-2023-42657).
Rapid7 is not aware of any exploitation in the wild as of September 29, 2023. Our research team has identified what appears to be the .NET deserialization vulnerability (CVE-2023-40044) and confirmed that it is exploitable with a single HTTPS POST request and a pre-existing ysoserial.net gadget.
The vulnerabilities in the advisory span a range of affected versions, and several affect only WS_FTP servers that have the Ad Hoc Transfer module enabled. Nevertheless, Progress Software’s advisory urges all customers to update to WS_FTP Server 8.8.2, which is the latest version of the software. Rapid7 echoes this recommendation.The vendor advisory has guidance on upgrading, along with info on disabling or removing the Ad Hoc Transfer module.
The critical vulnerabilities are below — notably, NVD scores CVE-2023-40044 as only being of “high” severity, not critical:
CVE-2023-40044: In WS_FTP Server versions prior to 8.7.4 and 8.8.2, the Ad Hoc Transfer module is vulnerable to a .NET deserialization vulnerability that allows an unauthenticated attacker to execute remote commands on the underlying WS_FTP Server operating system. The vulnerability affects all versions of the WS_FTP Server Ad Hoc module. Progress Software’s advisory indicates that WS_FTP Server installations without the Ad Hoc Transfer module installed are not vulnerable to CVE-2023-40044. CVE-2023-42657: WS_FTP Server versions prior to 8.7.4 and 8.8.2 are vulnerable to a directory traversal vulnerabil ..Support the originator by clicking the read the rest link below.
