Firewall 1Application · Checkpoint

CVE-2001-1431

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2001-10-08
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
59/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Nokia Firewall Appliances running IPSO 3.3 and VPN-1/FireWall-1 4.1 Service Pack 3, IPSO 3.4 and VPN-1/FireWall-1 4.1 Service Pack 4, and IPSO 3.4 or IPSO 3.4.1 and VPN-1/FireWall-1 4.1 Service Pack 5, when SYN Defender is configured in Active Gateway mode, does not properly rewrite the third packet of a TCP three-way handshake to use the NAT IP address, which allows remote attackers to gain sensitive information.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

When Nokia Firewall Appliances running IPSO 3.3/3.4/3.4.1 with VPN-1/FireWall-1 4.1 have SYN Defender configured in Active Gateway mode, the firewall fails to rewrite the third packet (ACK) of a TCP three-way handshake to use the NAT-translated IP address, causing internal network information to leak to external attackers.

MitigationUpgrade to the appropriate patched Service Pack for the IPSO version in use, or disable SYN Defender Active Gateway mode if patches are unavailable; consider migration off this legacy platform.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Firewall 1Application
Affected:= 4.1
Vpn 1Application
Affected:= 4.1
Firewall ApplianceHardware / appliance
Affected:= ipso_3.3= ipso_3.4= ipso_3.41

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Partial
Integrity
None
Availability
None

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify IPSO version
    Run 'ipso -v' or check system information to determine the IPSO version number
    Affected if Version is 3.3, 3.4, or 3.4.1 specifically (not later versions)
  2. Identify VPN-1/FireWall-1 version
    Run 'fw ver' or check Checkpoint software version installed on the appliance
    Affected if Version is exactly 4.1
  3. Verify SYN Defender configuration
    Check the firewall policy or configuration for SYN Defender settings - look for SYN Defender being enabled in the security policy
    Affected if SYN Defender is enabled in the firewall policy
  4. Confirm Active Gateway mode is in use
    Examine SYN Defender configuration parameters to determine if Active Gateway mode is configured rather than other modes like Standby or SYN Proxy
    Affected if SYN Defender is set to Active Gateway mode
  5. Check if NAT is configured
    Review the firewall NAT rules or NAT configuration to see if address translation is active
    Affected if NAT rules exist that would translate internal IP addresses to external addresses

The environment is affected only if running IPSO 3.3/3.4/3.4.1 with VPN-1/FireWall-1 4.1, SYN Defender is enabled in Active Gateway mode, AND NAT translation is configured - all conditions must be present.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade to the appropriate patched Service Pack for the IPSO version in use, or disable SYN Defender Active Gateway mode if patches are unavailable; consider migration off this legacy platform.

Fix this in Firewall 1 Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2001-1431 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data