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Gateway SecurityHardware / appliance · Symantec

CVE-2006-4562

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2006-09-06
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
The proxy DNS service in Symantec Gateway Security (SGS) allows remote attackers to make arbitrary DNS queries to third-party DNS servers, while hiding the source IP address of the attacker. NOTE: another researcher has stated that the default configuration does not proxy DNS queries received on the external interface

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 · moderate confidence

The DNS proxy service in Symantec Gateway Security (SGS) forwards arbitrary DNS queries from remote attackers to third-party DNS servers while concealing the attacker's source IP address. This turns the SGS device into an open DNS proxy, which can be abused for DNS amplification attacks, DNS poisoning attempts, or other malicious DNS activities. A researcher noted that the default configuration does not proxy DNS queries from the external interface, suggesting this may be a configuration-specific exposure or bypass.

MitigationRestrict the DNS proxy service to only accept and forward queries from trusted internal networks or hosts; disable DNS proxy functionality if not required, or implement firewall rules to prevent external sources from leveraging the proxy.

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
Gateway SecurityHardware / appliance
Affected:= 1.0= 320= 360= 360r= 5000_series_2.0.1= 5000_series_3.0= 5110= 5110_1.0= 5200= 5200_1.0= 5300= 5300_1.0

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 the Symantec Gateway Security product and version
    Access the device console or administrative interface and run 'version' or 'show system information' to retrieve the exact model number and firmware/software version. Compare against the affected list: 1.0, 320, 360, 360r, 5000_series_2.0.1, 5000_series_3.0, 5110, 5110_1.0, 5200, 5200_1.0, 5300, 5300_1.0
    Affected if The installed version matches any of the listed affected versions
  2. Verify DNS proxy service is enabled
    Log into the SGS administrative interface and navigate to DNS proxy or DNS forwarding settings. Check the service status. Alternatively, run 'show dns-proxy status' or 'show service dns-proxy' from the CLI if available.
    Affected if DNS proxy service is listed as enabled or running
  3. Inspect DNS proxy source interface configuration
    In the DNS proxy settings, locate the configuration controlling which interfaces or IP addresses can submit queries to the proxy. Look for options labeled 'allow from', 'trusted sources', 'access list', or similar. Check if the external/WAN interface or 'any' is permitted.
    Affected if The external interface, WAN IP range, or 'any'/'0.0.0.0/0' is explicitly allowed as a source for DNS proxy queries
  4. Confirm DNS proxy accepts queries from untrusted networks
    From an external/untrusted network, send a DNS query to the SGS public IP on port 53 (UDP). Use a tool like 'dig @<SGS_public_IP> example.com' or 'nslookup example.com <SGS_public_IP>'. Observe if the query is answered and forwarded to upstream DNS servers.
    Affected if DNS queries sourced from external/untrusted networks are accepted and resolved by the SGS device, indicating the proxy is accessible from outside the trusted network

A user is affected if their SGS device runs an affected version, has DNS proxy enabled, and accepts or forwards DNS queries from external/untrusted sources, allowing the device to be abused as an open DNS proxy.

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

Restrict the DNS proxy service to only accept and forward queries from trusted internal networks or hosts; disable DNS proxy functionality if not required, or implement firewall rules to prevent external sources from leveraging the proxy.

Fix this in Gateway Security Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,800
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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-2006-4562 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
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