Full Report
The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Monday added a now-patched high-severity security flaw impacting Acclaim Systems USAHERDS to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, based on evidence of active exploitation in the wild. The vulnerability in question is CVE-2021-44207 (CVSS score: 8.1), a case of hard-coded, static credentials in Acclaim USAHERDS that
Analysis Summary
# Vulnerability: Hard-Coded Credentials in Acclaim USAHERDS Leading to RCE
## CVE Details
- CVE ID: CVE-2021-44207
- CVSS Score: 8.1 (High)
- CWE: Hard-coded credentials (CWE-798/Related)
## Affected Systems
- Products: Acclaim Systems USAHERDS
- Versions: Version 7.4.0.1 and prior
- Configurations: Application servers running susceptible versions.
## Vulnerability Description
This vulnerability resides in the use of hard-coded, static `ValidationKey` and `DecryptionKey` values within the affected versions of Acclaim USAHERDS. An attacker who obtains knowledge of these static keys can construct maliciously crafted `ViewState` data. When the application server processes this malicious data, it passes the Message Authentication Code (MAC) check and triggers unsafe deserialization, leading to **Remote Code Execution (RCE)** on the server running the application.
## Exploitation
- Status: Exploited in the wild (Historically, abused as a zero-day by APT41)
- Complexity: Medium (Requires knowledge of the hardcoded keys to craft the exploit payload, though initial key discovery might be necessary).
- Attack Vector: Network
## Impact
- Confidentiality: High (Arbitrary code execution can lead to full system compromise)
- Integrity: High (Arbitrary code execution can lead to full system compromise)
- Availability: High (Arbitrary code execution can lead to system disruption or complete takeover)
## Remediation
### Patches
The advisory indicates the vulnerability is **now-patched** by the vendor, though specific patch versions are not detailed in the summary. Organizations should apply the latest available vendor patch immediately.
### Workarounds
No specific workarounds are mentioned in the provided context, but standard security best practices (e.g., network segmentation, input validation enforcement) should be considered until patching is complete.
## Detection
- **Indicators of Compromise (IoCs):** Evidence of unauthorized ViewState manipulation or unexpected process execution originating from the application server process in environments running Acclaim USAHERDS 7.4.0.1 or earlier.
- **Detection Methods and Tools:** Monitor application logs for unusual deserialization events or suspicious outbound network connections originating from the web application service account. Application security scanning tools might detect overly permissive configurations related to serialization controls.
## References
- Vendor advisory (Historical context from Mandiant): hXXps://github.com/mandiant/Vulnerability-Disclosures/blob/master/MNDT-2021-0012/MNDT-2021-0012.md
- CISA KEV Catalog Update: hXXps://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2024/12/23/cisa-adds-one-known-exploited-vulnerability-catalog
- Historical Exploitation Reference: hXXps://thehackernews.com/2022/03/chinese-apt41-hackers-broke-into-at.html