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Netscaler Access Gateway FirmwareOperating system · Citrix

CVE-2014-2881

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2014-05-01
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 10.1.e or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
Unspecified vulnerability in the Diffie-Hellman key agreement implementation in the management GUI Java applet in Citrix NetScaler Application Delivery Controller (ADC) and NetScaler Gateway before 9.3-66.5 and 10.x before 10.1-122.17 has unknown impact and vectors.

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

Vulnerability in the Diffie-Hellman key agreement implementation within the Citrix NetScaler management GUI Java applet. The specific flaw in the DH implementation allows unknown attack vectors with critical impact. Affects NetScaler ADC and NetScaler Gateway management interfaces.

MitigationUpgrade Citrix NetScaler ADC and NetScaler Gateway to version 9.3-66.5 or later, or version 10.1-122.17 or later. Until patched, restrict access to the management GUI to trusted networks only.

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
Netscaler Access Gateway FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 9.3<= 10.1.e
Netscaler Application Delivery Controller FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 10.1<= 9.3.e
Netscaler Application Delivery ControllerHardware / appliance
Affected:all versions
Netscaler Access GatewayHardware / appliance
Affected:all versions

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
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

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

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 NetScaler product type
    Log into the NetScaler CLI and run 'show hardware' or 'show system' to confirm whether the device is a NetScaler Application Delivery Controller (ADC) or NetScaler Access Gateway
    Affected if The device is a NetScaler ADC or NetScaler Access Gateway - both product lines are affected
  2. Check the firmware version
    Run 'show version' or 'show ns version' in the NetScaler CLI to obtain the exact firmware version number
    Affected if Version is 9.3 (any build), 10.1 (any build up to 122.17), or any version between 9.3 and 10.1 (including 9.3.e or 10.1.e variants) - these fall within the affected ranges
  3. Verify management GUI is enabled
    Run 'show httpd' or check the GUI configuration via 'show nshttpd' to determine if the NetScaler management web interface (nsgui) is enabled
    Affected if The management GUI HTTP/HTTPS service is enabled - the vulnerability exists in the Java applet served by this interface
  4. Check network exposure of management interface
    Run 'show ip' to list the NSIP, MIP, or VIP addresses bound to management services, and review firewall rules or access control lists that permit access to ports 80/443 on these IPs
    Affected if The management GUI is reachable from untrusted networks - this exposes the DH flaw to potential attackers

You are affected if the device is a NetScaler ADC or Gateway with a vulnerable firmware version (9.3 through 10.1, or any version) AND the management GUI Java applet is accessible over the network.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 10.1.e
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Citrix NetScaler ADC and NetScaler Gateway to version 9.3-66.5 or later, or version 10.1-122.17 or later. Until patched, restrict access to the management GUI to trusted networks only.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to NetScaler firmware 9.3-66.5 or 10.1-122.17 (or later stable release)

  1. 1. Identify the current NetScaler firmware version by logging into the CLI and running 'show version' or via the management GUI
  2. 2. If running firmware version 9.3.x before 9.3-66.5, or 10.x before 10.1-122.17, plan for an upgrade
  3. 3. Download the appropriate fixed firmware image (9.3-66.5 or 10.1-122.17 or later) from support.citrix.com
  4. 4. Back up the current NetScaler configuration using 'save ns config' and export via the management GUI
  5. 5. Upload the new firmware file via the management GUI (System > Firmware) or SCP to the NetScaler
  6. 6. Install the firmware and reboot the device
  7. 7. After reboot, verify the new version is running using 'show version'
  8. 8. Verify that the management GUI and SSL VPN/ADC functions are operating normally
Caveat Firmware upgrades carry risk of configuration or functionality issues; test in a staging environment first and ensure you have a valid configuration backup

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Netscaler Access Gateway Firmware 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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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-2014-2881 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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