CVE-2021-40992
📋 TL;DR
A remote SQL injection vulnerability in Aruba ClearPass Policy Manager allows attackers to execute arbitrary SQL commands via crafted requests. This affects organizations running vulnerable versions of ClearPass Policy Manager, potentially compromising sensitive authentication and policy data.
💻 Affected Systems
- Aruba ClearPass Policy Manager
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete database compromise leading to credential theft, policy manipulation, and full system takeover.
Likely Case
Data exfiltration of user credentials, network policies, and sensitive configuration information.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper network segmentation and database access controls.
🎯 Exploit Status
SQL injection vulnerabilities typically have low exploitation complexity once the injection point is identified.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 6.10.2, 6.9.7-HF1, 6.8.9-HF1
Vendor Advisory: https://www.arubanetworks.com/assets/alert/ARUBA-PSA-2021-018.txt
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Download appropriate patch from Aruba support portal. 2. Backup current configuration. 3. Apply patch following Aruba's upgrade documentation. 4. Restart ClearPass services.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Network Segmentation
allRestrict network access to ClearPass management interfaces to trusted IPs only.
Configure firewall rules to limit access to ClearPass ports (e.g., 443, 22)
Web Application Firewall
allDeploy WAF with SQL injection protection rules.
Configure WAF to block SQL injection patterns
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict network access controls to limit exposure
- Enable database activity monitoring and alerting for suspicious queries
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check ClearPass version via web interface (Administration > Support > System Information) or CLI command 'show version'Check Version:
show versionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify version is 6.10.2, 6.9.7-HF1, or 6.8.9-HF1 or later📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual SQL query patterns in database logs
- Multiple failed authentication attempts followed by SQL errors
Network Indicators:
- Unusual outbound database connections from ClearPass server
- SQL syntax in HTTP requests to ClearPass
SIEM Query:
source="clearpass" AND ("sql" OR "database" OR "query") AND ("error" OR "exception" OR "injection")