CVE-2020-12441
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability allows remote attackers to cause a Denial-of-Service (DoS) in Ivanti Service Manager HEAT Remote Control 7.4 by exploiting a buffer overflow in the protocol parser. Attackers can crash the service by sending specially crafted network packets. Organizations using Ivanti Service Manager HEAT Remote Control 7.4 are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- Ivanti Service Manager HEAT Remote Control
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete service disruption of the HEAT Remote Control agent, preventing remote management capabilities and potentially requiring manual service restart on affected systems.
Likely Case
Service crash resulting in temporary loss of remote control functionality until the service is manually restarted.
If Mitigated
Limited impact if network segmentation restricts access to the vulnerable service and proper monitoring detects exploitation attempts.
🎯 Exploit Status
The vulnerability requires sending specially crafted network packets to the vulnerable service. No authentication is required, making exploitation straightforward for attackers with network access.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Ivanti DSM 2020.1 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://forums.ivanti.com/s/article/Release-Notes-for-DSM-2020-1
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Download Ivanti DSM 2020.1 or later from the Ivanti portal. 2. Apply the update to all affected systems. 3. Restart the HEAT Remote Control service on all updated systems.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Network Segmentation
allRestrict network access to the HEAT Remote Control service to only trusted management networks
Service Restart Script
windowsCreate automated monitoring and restart script for the HEATRemoteService
sc query HEATRemoteService
sc start HEATRemoteService
sc stop HEATRemoteService
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict network access controls to limit which systems can communicate with the HEAT Remote Control service
- Monitor service health and implement automated restart procedures if the service crashes
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check the installed version of Ivanti Service Manager. If it's version 7.4 and not updated to DSM 2020.1 or later, it's vulnerable.Check Version:
Check the Ivanti Service Manager version in the application interface or review installation logsVerify Fix Applied:
Verify the installed version is DSM 2020.1 or later and that the HEATRemoteService is running normally after applying the patch.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- HEATRemoteService crash events in Windows Event Logs
- Unexpected service termination events
- High volume of network traffic to HEAT Remote Control port
Network Indicators:
- Unusual network patterns to port used by HEAT Remote Control service
- Malformed packets targeting the HEAT Remote Control protocol
SIEM Query:
EventID: 7034 OR EventID: 1000 AND Source: HEATRemoteService OR ProcessName: HEATRemoteService.exe