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Netscaler Application Delivery ControllerHardware / appliance · Citrix

CVE-2015-3642

MEDIUM · 5.9 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-08-02
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
68/100
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 TLS and DTLS processing functionality in Citrix NetScaler Application Delivery Controller (ADC) and NetScaler Gateway devices with firmware 9.x before 9.3 Build 68.5, 10.0 through Build 78.6, 10.1 before Build 130.13, 10.1.e before Build 130.1302.e, 10.5 before Build 55.8, and 10.5.e before Build 55.8007.e makes it easier for man-in-the-middle attackers to obtain cleartext data via a padding-oracle attack, a variant of CVE-2014-3566 (aka POODLE).

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

Citrix NetScaler ADC and NetScaler Gateway devices with firmware 9.x, 10.0, 10.1, and 10.5 contain a padding oracle vulnerability in TLS/DTLS processing, allowing man-in-the-middle attackers to recover cleartext data through a POODLE-style attack (CVE-2014-3566 variant). The vulnerability stems from improper handling of padding in the SSL/TLS implementation.

MitigationUpgrade NetScaler firmware to version 9.3 Build 68.5 or later, 10.1 Build 130.13 or later, 10.5 Build 55.8 or later (or their .e variants) to address the padding oracle weakness in TLS/DTLS processing.

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 Application Delivery ControllerHardware / appliance
Affected:all versions
Netscaler 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
High
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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 NetScaler firmware version
    Log into the NetScaler command-line interface (CLI) or management GUI and navigate to System > Information > Version, or run 'show version' in the CLI
    Affected if The installed version is 9.x, 10.0, 10.1, or 10.5 prior to the fixed builds (9.3 Build 68.5, 10.1 Build 130.13, or 10.5 Build 55.8)
  2. Confirm TLS/DTLS services are exposed
    Review the NetScaler service configuration to determine if SSL/TLS virtual servers or services are configured and enabled (check 'show ssl' or review the SSL profile settings in the GUI under Traffic Management > SSL)
    Affected if Any SSL or TLS services are listening and accepting connections, making the padding oracle exploitable over the network
  3. Verify if SSLv3 protocol is enabled
    Check the SSL parameter settings on the NetScaler by running 'show ssl parameter' in the CLI or inspecting SSL profiles in the GUI under SSL Settings
    Affected if SSLv3 is enabled, as the POODLE-style attack specifically exploits SSL 3.0 padding weaknesses

A NetScaler device is affected if it runs firmware version 9.x, 10.0, 10.1, or 10.5 (prior to the fixed builds) AND has SSL/TLS services exposed with SSLv3 enabled, allowing a man-in-the-middle attacker to exploit the padding oracle in TLS/DTLS processing.

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 NetScaler firmware to version 9.3 Build 68.5 or later, 10.1 Build 130.13 or later, 10.5 Build 55.8 or later (or their .e variants) to address the padding oracle weakness in TLS/DTLS processing.

Fix this in Netscaler Application Delivery Controller Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
24.0 hours of engineering $4,160
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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-2015-3642 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
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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