CVE-2023-40462
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability in Sierra Wireless ALEOS ACEManager allows unauthenticated attackers to cause a temporary denial of service by sending malformed authentication requests. The ACEManager component restarts within 10 seconds, but during that time its management functions are unavailable. Organizations using Sierra Wireless routers with ALEOS 4.16 or earlier are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- Sierra Wireless routers with ALEOS
📦 What is this software?
Aleos by Sierrawireless
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Repeated exploitation could cause persistent ACEManager unavailability, disrupting management capabilities while core router functions continue operating.
Likely Case
Temporary ACEManager service disruption lasting up to 10 seconds per attack, potentially affecting management operations during that window.
If Mitigated
Minimal impact with proper network segmentation and access controls limiting exposure to the management interface.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires sending malformed input to the authentication endpoint; no authentication required.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: ALEOS 4.17 and later
Vendor Advisory: https://source.sierrawireless.com/resources/security-bulletins/sierra-wireless-technical-bulletin---swi-psa-2023-006/
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Download ALEOS 4.17 or later from Sierra Wireless support portal. 2. Backup current configuration. 3. Apply firmware update via ACEManager or console. 4. Reboot router. 5. Verify version and functionality.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Network Segmentation
allRestrict access to ACEManager management interface to trusted networks only
Access Control Lists
linuxImplement firewall rules to limit connections to ACEManager port (typically TCP 443)
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 443 -s trusted_network -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 443 -j DROP
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict network segmentation to isolate management interfaces from untrusted networks
- Deploy intrusion prevention systems (IPS) to detect and block malformed authentication attempts
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check ALEOS version via ACEManager web interface or CLI command 'show version'Check Version:
show version | include ALEOSVerify Fix Applied:
Confirm ALEOS version is 4.17 or later and test authentication with malformed input📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Multiple authentication failures with malformed input
- ACEManager service restart logs
Network Indicators:
- Unusual volume of authentication requests to ACEManager port
- Malformed HTTP/S requests to authentication endpoints
SIEM Query:
source="router_logs" ("authentication failed" OR "ACEManager restart") AND (malformed OR invalid)🔗 References
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2023/12/msg00024.html
- https://source.sierrawireless.com/resources/security-bulletins/sierra-wireless-technical-bulletin---swi-psa-2023-006/#sthash.6KUVtE6w.dpbs
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2023/12/msg00024.html
- https://source.sierrawireless.com/resources/security-bulletins/sierra-wireless-technical-bulletin---swi-psa-2023-006/#sthash.6KUVtE6w.dpbs
