CVE-2022-33106 is a critical vulnerability identified in WiJungle NGFW Version U250, a network security product functioning as a next-generation firewall. The vulnerability arises from the absence of rate limiting on authentication attempts, specifically allowing an attacker to perform a brute force attack against the administrator password. This lack of rate limiting means that an attacker can repeatedly attempt password guesses without any automated restrictions or delays, significantly increasing the likelihood of successfully compromising the admin account. Once the attacker obtains administrative credentials, they can take full control of the firewall, potentially altering security policies, disabling protections, or gaining access to sensitive network traffic. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-307, which relates to improper restriction of excessive authentication attempts. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 9.8 (critical), reflecting the vulnerability’s network attack vector (AV:N), low attack complexity (AC:L), no privileges required (PR:N), no user interaction (UI:N), and high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability (C:H/I:H/A:H). No patches or vendor advisories are currently linked, and no known exploits have been reported in the wild as of the publication date (October 12, 2022). However, the critical nature and ease of exploitation make this a significant threat to any organization using the affected firewall version.

For European organizations, the impact of this vulnerability can be severe. Next-generation firewalls like WiJungle NGFW are central to network security, controlling traffic, enforcing policies, and protecting against external and internal threats. An attacker who gains administrative access can disable or modify firewall rules, potentially allowing malware, ransomware, or data exfiltration activities to proceed unchecked. This can lead to breaches of sensitive personal data protected under GDPR, resulting in regulatory penalties and reputational damage. Additionally, disruption of firewall services can cause network outages, impacting business continuity. Critical infrastructure operators, financial institutions, and enterprises with high-value data are particularly at risk. The vulnerability’s exploitation could facilitate lateral movement within networks, enabling attackers to compromise additional systems. Given the firewall’s role as a security gatekeeper, the overall security posture of affected organizations would be significantly weakened.

To mitigate this vulnerability, organizations should first verify if they are using WiJungle NGFW Version U250 or related versions. Immediate steps include: 1) Contacting the vendor or authorized support channels to obtain any available patches or firmware updates addressing the issue. 2) If patches are unavailable, implement compensating controls such as deploying external rate limiting mechanisms on the management interface, for example, using network access control lists (ACLs) or firewall rules to restrict the number of authentication attempts per IP address. 3) Restrict administrative access to the firewall management interface to trusted IP addresses or VPNs to reduce exposure. 4) Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) for administrative accounts if supported by the device to add an additional layer of security beyond passwords. 5) Monitor authentication logs for unusual or repeated failed login attempts to detect brute force activity early. 6) Consider network segmentation to isolate the firewall management interface from general user networks. 7) Regularly review and update administrator passwords to strong, complex values. These measures collectively reduce the risk of successful exploitation until an official patch is applied.