Novi Survey: code execution flaw under attack

What is affected

Novi Survey is mostly run by companies, schools and public bodies, not on home computers. You are unlikely to have it yourself, but organisations that hold your data may. Breaches that start with flaws like this one are how personal data ends up leaked.

Novi Survey contains an insecure deserialization vulnerability that allows remote attackers to execute code on the server in the context of the service account.

What an attacker can do

This is a code execution flaw. It lets an attacker run their own commands or programs on the affected system. In practice that usually means taking it over: installing malware, stealing data or using it to reach other devices on the same network.

How it is reached

Over the internet or network

Access the attacker needs

No account needed

Does the victim have to do something?

No, works without the victim doing anything

What to do

1. At home: nothing to install. Keep your own devices updated and use a different password for every service, so that a breach at one organisation does not open your other accounts.
2. If you administer Novi Survey at work: apply the vendor's fix or mitigation now and review logs for signs of compromise, because the flaw was being exploited before it was listed.
3. If the product is past its support date and no fix exists, take it off the internet or retire it.

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Vendor advisories and fixes

• novisurvey.netnovisurvey.net/blog/novi-survey-security-advisory-apr-2023.aspx

How urgent is it

CISA added this vulnerability to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue on April 13, 2023, which means there is reliable evidence of attacks in the wild. US federal agencies must fix it by May 4, 2023, a deadline that has already passed. That deadline does not bind anyone else, but it shows how seriously the agency rates it.

The EPSS model estimates a 2.7% probability that this flaw will be exploited somewhere in the next 30 days. That is higher than 85% of all scored vulnerabilities.

Its CVSS severity score is 9.8 out of 10 (critical), as recorded in the US National Vulnerability Database.

Technical description

Novi Survey before 8.9.43676 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on the server in the context of the service account. This does not provide access to stored survey or response data.