CVE-2020-10654
📋 TL;DR
CVE-2020-10654 is a critical heap buffer overflow vulnerability in PingID SSH servers before version 4.0.14. This allows remote attackers to potentially execute arbitrary code on the authenticating endpoint, potentially gaining full control of affected systems. Organizations using PingID SSH for multi-factor authentication are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- Ping Identity PingID SSH
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Remote code execution leading to complete system compromise, credential theft, lateral movement, and data exfiltration.
Likely Case
Successful exploitation resulting in unauthorized access to the SSH server and potentially the underlying operating system.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper network segmentation, minimal privileges, and monitoring in place.
🎯 Exploit Status
The vulnerability is remotely exploitable without authentication, but specific exploit details are not publicly documented.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 4.0.14
Vendor Advisory: https://docs.pingidentity.com/bundle/pingid/page/hmc1587998527490.html
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Download PingID SSH version 4.0.14 or later from Ping Identity. 2. Stop the PingID SSH service. 3. Install the updated version following vendor documentation. 4. Restart the PingID SSH service. 5. Verify the update was successful.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable PingID SSH temporarily
linuxTemporarily disable PingID SSH authentication and revert to standard SSH authentication methods.
# Edit SSH configuration to remove PingID settings
# Typically in /etc/ssh/sshd_config or similar
Network access restrictions
linuxRestrict network access to PingID SSH servers using firewall rules.
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 22 -s trusted_networks -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 22 -j DROP
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict network segmentation to isolate PingID SSH servers from untrusted networks.
- Deploy intrusion detection systems (IDS) and monitor for exploitation attempts against SSH services.
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check the PingID SSH version installed on the server. If it's earlier than 4.0.14, the system is vulnerable.Check Version:
pingid-ssh --version or check the installation directory for version filesVerify Fix Applied:
Verify that PingID SSH version is 4.0.14 or later after applying the patch.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual SSH authentication failures or successes
- Process creation events from SSH service with suspicious parameters
- Memory access violations in system logs
Network Indicators:
- Unusual SSH traffic patterns to PingID SSH servers
- Connection attempts from unexpected sources
SIEM Query:
source="ssh_logs" AND (event="authentication failure" OR event="buffer overflow")🔗 References
- https://docs.pingidentity.com/bundle/pingid/page/hmc1587998527490.html
- https://docs.pingidentity.com/bundle/pingid/page/okt1564020467088.html
- https://www.pingidentity.com/
- https://www.pingidentity.com/en/cloud/pingid.html
- https://docs.pingidentity.com/bundle/pingid/page/hmc1587998527490.html
- https://docs.pingidentity.com/bundle/pingid/page/okt1564020467088.html
- https://www.pingidentity.com/
- https://www.pingidentity.com/en/cloud/pingid.html
