CVE-2021-37624: FreeSWITCH does not authenticate SIP MESSAGE requests, leading to spam and message spoofing

Published Oct 25, 2021
·
Updated

FreeSWITCH is a Software Defined Telecom Stack enabling the digital transformation from proprietary telecom switches to a software implementation that runs on any commodity hardware. Prior to version 1.10.7, FreeSWITCH does not authenticate SIP MESSAGE requests, leading to spam and message spoofing. By default, SIP requests of the type MESSAGE (RFC 3428) are not authenticated in the affected versions of FreeSWITCH. MESSAGE requests are relayed to SIP user agents registered with the FreeSWITCH server without requiring any authentication. Although this behaviour can be changed by setting the auth-messages parameter to true, it is not the default setting. Abuse of this security issue allows attackers to send SIP MESSAGE messages to any SIP user agent that is registered with the server without requiring authentication. Additionally, since no authentication is required, chat messages can be spoofed to appear to come from trusted entities. Therefore, abuse can lead to spam and enable social engineering, phishing and similar attacks. This issue is patched in version 1.10.7. Maintainers recommend that this SIP message type is authenticated by default so that FreeSWITCH administrators do not need to be explicitly set the auth-messages parameter. When following such a recommendation, a new parameter can be introduced to explicitly disable authentication.

Affected Software

1 affected component
FreeSWITCH FreeSWITCH<1.10.7

Event History

Oct 25, 2021
CVE Published
via MITRE·04:10 PM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·04:10 PM
DescriptionSeverityWeakness

Frequently Asked Questions

1

What is CVE-2021-37624?

CVE-2021-37624 is a vulnerability in FreeSWITCH that allows for spam and message spoofing due to the lack of authentication for SIP MESSAGE requests prior to version 1.10.7.

2

How severe is CVE-2021-37624?

CVE-2021-37624 has a severity score of 7.5, which is considered high.

3

What software is affected by CVE-2021-37624?

FreeSWITCH versions up to and excluding 1.10.7 are affected by CVE-2021-37624.

4

How can CVE-2021-37624 be exploited?

CVE-2021-37624 can be exploited by an attacker sending malicious SIP MESSAGE requests without authentication, leading to spam and message spoofing.

5

Are there any references for CVE-2021-37624?

Yes, you can find more information about CVE-2021-37624 at the following references: [Link 1](http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/164628/FreeSWITCH-1.10.6-Missing-SIP-MESSAGE-Authentication.html), [Link 2](http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2021/Oct/44), [Link 3](http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2021/10/25/6)

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