CVE-2021-36724
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 · uneditedForeScout - SecureConnector Local Service DoS - A low privilaged user which doesn't have permissions to shutdown the secure connector service writes a large amount of characters in the installationPath. This will cause the buffer to overflow and override the stack cookie causing the service to crash.
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 confidenceA buffer overflow vulnerability in ForeScout SecureConnector's local service allows a low-privileged user to cause denial of service by writing an excessive amount of characters in the installationPath. This overflows a buffer and overwrites the stack cookie, causing the service to crash.
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= 11.0.4.1024CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify SecureConnector installation and versionQuery the installed version of Forescout SecureConnector on the system. This may be via registry keys, installed programs list, or the application's version information. Compare the installed version to the affected range: 11.0.4.1024Affected if The installed version is exactly 11.0.4.1024
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Identify the SecureConnector local serviceLocate the SecureConnector service running on the system. This is the service that handles the installationPath parameter and is vulnerable to the buffer overflowAffected if The SecureConnector local service is present and running on the system
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Check service status for recent crashesExamine the SecureConnector service status and any associated event logs or crash dumps. Look for signs of unexpected termination or denial of service eventsAffected if The service has crashed or terminated unexpectedly, particularly if the crash involves stack cookie corruption or buffer overflow indicators
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Review installationPath configurationInspect the current configuration for the installationPath parameter used by the SecureConnector service. Check for unusually long path values that may indicate exploitation or misconfigurationAffected if The installationPath contains an excessively long string that could indicate attempted or successful buffer overflow
A system is affected if Forescout SecureConnector version 11.0.4.1024 is installed and the vulnerable local service is present, as this specific version contains the buffer overflow flaw in the installationPath handling.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataImplement strict input validation and length constraints on the installationPath parameter to prevent buffer overflow; restrict filesystem permissions on the SecureConnector installation directory to authorized administrators.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,120.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-36724 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-36724 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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