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Surveillance StationApplication · Qnap

CVE-2021-28797

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-04-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.1.5.3.3 / 5.1.5.4.3 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
A stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability has been reported to affect QNAP NAS devices running Surveillance Station. If exploited, this vulnerability allows attackers to execute arbitrary code. QNAP have already fixed this vulnerability in the following versions: Surveillance Station 5.1.5.4.3 (and later) for ARM CPU NAS (64bit OS) and x86 CPU NAS (64bit OS) Surveillance Station 5.1.5.3.3 (and later) for ARM CPU NAS (32bit OS) and x86 CPU NAS (32bit OS)

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

A stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability in QNAP Surveillance Station allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code due to improper bounds checking in the surveillance application. This critical memory corruption flaw can be exploited over the network without authentication.

MitigationUpdate Surveillance Station to version 5.1.5.4.3 or later for 64-bit NAS systems, or version 5.1.5.3.3 or later for 32-bit NAS systems. Verify camera integrations and recording functionality after updating.

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
Surveillance StationApplication
Affected:< 5.1.5.3.3>= 5.1.5.4.0, < 5.1.5.4.3

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
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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. Confirm QNAP Surveillance Station is installed
    Access the QNAP NAS admin interface, go to App Center or Surveillance Station, and verify the application is present and running.
    Affected if Surveillance Station is installed and running on the QNAP device
  2. Identify NAS architecture (32-bit or 64-bit)
    In QNAP admin interface, check System Settings > Hardware, or run command 'uname -m' via SSH to determine if the NAS is 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x86_64/aarch64).
    Affected if The NAS architecture cannot be determined or is not recognized as either 32-bit or 64-bit
  3. Find installed Surveillance Station version
    In Surveillance Station, go to Settings > System > About, or access the QNAP App Center and check the version displayed for Surveillance Station.
    Affected if The installed version cannot be determined or is not visible in the UI or App Center
  4. Compare version against affected ranges
    For 32-bit NAS: version must be >= 5.1.5.3.3 to be unaffected. For 64-bit NAS: version must be >= 5.1.5.4.3 to be unaffected. Any version below these thresholds is affected.
    Affected if Version is below 5.1.5.3.3 on 32-bit systems, OR version is >= 5.1.5.4.0 but below 5.1.5.4.3 on 64-bit systems

The environment is affected if QNAP Surveillance Station is installed and the installed version falls below 5.1.5.3.3 for 32-bit NAS or between 5.1.5.4.0 and 5.1.5.4.3 for 64-bit NAS.

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 5.1.5.3.3 / 5.1.5.4.3 or later
Fixed in 5.1.5.3.35.1.5.4.3
Interim mitigation

Update Surveillance Station to version 5.1.5.4.3 or later for 64-bit NAS systems, or version 5.1.5.3.3 or later for 32-bit NAS systems. Verify camera integrations and recording functionality after updating.

Recommended fix High confidence

Surveillance Station 5.1.5.4.3+ for ARM64/x86-64; Surveillance Station 5.1.5.3.3+ for ARM32/x86-32

  1. 1. Identify your QNAP NAS CPU architecture (ARM 32-bit, ARM 64-bit, x86 32-bit, or x86 64-bit) - check QNAP product specifications or QTS System Information
  2. 2. Check current Surveillance Station version in QTS under App Center > Installed
  3. 3. For ARM64 or x86-64 CPU NAS devices: Upgrade Surveillance Station to version 5.1.5.4.3 or later
  4. 4. For ARM32 or x86-32 CPU NAS devices: Upgrade Surveillance Station to version 5.1.5.3.3 or later
  5. 5. After upgrade, verify the installed version in App Center matches the target fixed version

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

Fix this in Surveillance Station Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
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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-2021-28797 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