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AvalancheApplication · Ivanti

CVE-2022-36978

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-03-29
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.3.4 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
This vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected installations of Ivanti Avalanche 6.3.2.3490. Although authentication is required to exploit this vulnerability, the existing authentication mechanism can be bypassed. The specific flaw exists within the Notification Server service. The issue results from the lack of proper validation of user-supplied data, which can result in deserialization of untrusted data. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of the service account. Was ZDI-CAN-15448.

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

Ivanti Avalanche 6.3.2.3490 contains a deserialization vulnerability in the Notification Server service. The vulnerability allows remote attackers to bypass authentication and execute arbitrary code by providing untrusted serialized data that gets deserialized without proper validation, leading to code execution as the service account.

MitigationApply the vendor patch or upgrade to a patched version of Ivanti Avalanche. If immediate patching is not possible, restrict network access to the Notification Server service and monitor for exploitation attempts.

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
AvalancheApplication
Affected:>= 6.3.2.3490, < 6.3.4

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. Verify Ivanti Avalanche is installed
    Check for Ivanti Avalanche installation directory (typically C:\Program Files\Ivanti\Avalanche or C:\Program Files (x86)\Ivanti\Avalanche) or look for the Avalanche service in Windows Services.
    Affected if Ivanti Avalanche is present on the system
  2. Identify the installed version
    Locate the version information in the installation directory (commonly in an About or version file, or check the Windows Service properties for the Avalanche Notification Server service).
    Affected if The installed version is 6.3.2.3490 or higher, but lower than 6.3.4
  3. Confirm Notification Server service is running
    Open Windows Services and check for 'Avalanche Notification Server' or run 'sc query' command to enumerate services containing 'Avalanche'.
    Affected if The Notification Server service exists and is running
  4. Check service network exposure
    Review firewall rules or run 'netstat -an' to identify if the Notification Server port (typically TCP 443 or as configured) is listening on external interfaces. Check if the service is bound to 0.0.0.0 rather than localhost only.
    Affected if The Notification Server is listening on accessible network interfaces (0.0.0.0 or external IP)

The system is affected if Ivanti Avalanche version 6.3.2.3490 or higher but below 6.3.4 is installed and the Notification Server service is running and network-accessible.

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 6.3.4 or later
Fixed in 6.3.4
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor patch or upgrade to a patched version of Ivanti Avalanche. If immediate patching is not possible, restrict network access to the Notification Server service and monitor for exploitation attempts.

Recommended fix High confidence

Ivanti Avalanche 6.3.4 or later

  1. Identify the currently installed Ivanti Avalanche version by checking the application or system information
  2. Confirm the installed version is >= 6.3.2.3490 and < 6.3.4 to verify vulnerability exposure
  3. Obtain Ivanti Avalanche version 6.3.4 or later from the official vendor (download.wavelink.com or Ivanti support channels)
  4. Backup the current Avalanche configuration and database before performing the upgrade
  5. Apply the upgrade to the Avalanche server, following the vendor's upgrade documentation
  6. Verify the upgrade was successful and the new version is running
  7. Confirm the Notification Server service is operational after the upgrade
Caveat Review vendor release notes for any configuration or feature changes between your current version and 6.3.4

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

Fix this in Avalanche Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,560
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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-2022-36978 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
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data