CVE-2025-32983

Executive Summary

CVE-2025-32983 is a vulnerability in NETSCOUT nGeniusONE, a network performance monitoring and diagnostics platform. The flaw allows an unauthenticated or low-privileged attacker to trigger a stack trace, which inadvertently discloses sensitive technical information about the application's internal state, configuration, and environment. This information disclosure can aid in further reconnaissance and targeted attacks against the infrastructure.

The vulnerability is classified as an Information Disclosure (CWE-200) and is present in versions prior to 6.4.0 b2350. While no public proof-of-concept (PoC) or exploit code is currently available, the risk is elevated due to the sensitive nature of the data that can be leaked (e.g., file paths, database queries, internal IP addresses, software versions). The vendor has released a patch in version 6.4.0 b2350.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

• CVSS Score: 0.0 (Unscored by NVD)
• Attack Vector (AV): Network (likely)
• Attack Complexity (AC): Low (likely)
• Privileges Required (PR): None (likely)
• User Interaction (UI): None (likely)
• Scope (S): Unchanged
• Confidentiality (C): High (stack traces reveal internal paths, queries, and configurations)
• Integrity (I): None
• Availability (A): None

Threat Level: Medium. The vulnerability does not allow direct code execution or data modification, but the leaked information can be used to craft more sophisticated attacks, such as SQL injection, path traversal, or targeted exploitation of known software versions.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability stems from improper exception handling within the nGeniusONE web application. When a specific, malformed request is sent to the application, it triggers an unhandled exception. Instead of returning a generic error page, the application returns a detailed stack trace to the user.

A stack trace typically includes:

• Full file paths on the server (e.g., /opt/netscout/ngeniusone/webapp/WEB-INF/classes/...).
• Java class names and method names.
• Database query strings (potentially revealing table names and column structures).
• Internal IP addresses and port numbers.
• Software library versions (e.g., Spring Framework, Hibernate, Tomcat).

An attacker can use this information to:

1. Map the internal architecture: Identify the technology stack and directory structure.
2. Identify vulnerable libraries: Cross-reference library versions with known CVEs.
3. Craft targeted exploits: Use leaked database query patterns to perform SQL injection or use file paths for path traversal attacks.
4. Bypass security controls: Understand authentication and authorization logic from the stack trace.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Vulnerable Code (Conceptual): The vulnerable code likely lacks a global exception handler. When an exception occurs in a controller or service, it propagates up to the default servlet container handler, which outputs the full stack trace.

// Vulnerable Controller
@Controller
public class DataController {
    @GetMapping("/api/data")
    public ResponseEntity<String> getData(@RequestParam String id) {
        // No try-catch block
        String result = dataService.fetchData(id);
        return ResponseEntity.ok(result);
    }
}

Patched Code (Conceptual): The patched code implements a global exception handler that catches all unhandled exceptions and returns a generic error message, logging the stack trace server-side only.

// Patched Global Exception Handler
@ControllerAdvice
public class GlobalExceptionHandler {
    @ExceptionHandler(Exception.class)
    public ResponseEntity<String> handleException(Exception ex) {
        // Log the full stack trace server-side
        logger.error("Unhandled exception occurred", ex);
        // Return a generic error message to the client
        return ResponseEntity.status(HttpStatus.INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR)
                .body("An internal error occurred. Please contact support.");
    }
}

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team (Offensive)

1. Reconnaissance: Identify nGeniusONE instances using Shodan dorks: "nGeniusONE", "NETSCOUT nGeniusONE".

2. Triggering the Vulnerability: Send malformed requests to various endpoints. Common techniques include:

   • Sending invalid data types (e.g., string where integer is expected).
   • Providing extremely long input strings.
   • Manipulating HTTP headers (e.g., Content-Type, Accept).
   • Accessing non-existent endpoints or resources.
   • Using special characters (e.g., ', %00, ../).

   Example Request (Conceptual):

   GET /api/data?id=invalid_string HTTP/1.1
   Host: target.netscout.com
   

3. Analyzing the Response: The server will return a 500 Internal Server Error with a full stack trace in the response body.

   Example Response (Conceptual):

   HTTP/1.1 500 Internal Server Error
   Content-Type: text/html
   
   <html>
   <body>
   <h1>Internal Server Error</h1>
   <pre>
   java.lang.NumberFormatException: For input string: "invalid_string"
       at java.lang.NumberFormatException.forInputString(NumberFormatException.java:65)
       at java.lang.Integer.parseInt(Integer.java:580)
       at java.lang.Integer.parseInt(Integer.java:615)
       at com.netscout.ngeniusone.web.DataController.getData(DataController.java:45)
       at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
       ...
       at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.NioEndpoint$SocketProcessor.doRun(NioEndpoint.java:1526)
       ...
   </pre>
   </body>
   </html>
   

Blue Team (Defensive)

1. Detection: Monitor for HTTP 500 responses containing stack traces. Use the Sigma rule provided in the Detection Engineering section.
2. Prevention:
   • Immediate: Apply the vendor patch (upgrade to 6.4.0 b2350 or later).
   • Workaround: If patching is not immediately possible, deploy a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule to block responses containing common stack trace patterns (e.g., java.lang., at com.netscout., Caused by:).
   • Configuration: Ensure the application server (Tomcat) is configured to not send stack traces to the client in production. This can be done by setting server.error.include-stacktrace=never in Spring Boot or configuring the error-page element in web.xml.
3. Hunting: Search logs for requests that result in 500 errors and contain suspicious patterns (e.g., SQL keywords, long strings, special characters).

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• Network:
  • HTTP 500 responses containing java.lang., com.netscout., Caused by:, or at .
  • Requests to nGeniusONE endpoints with unusual parameters (e.g., id=test, name=%00).
• Host:
  • Application logs showing NumberFormatException, NullPointerException, or SQLException originating from web controllers.
  • Tomcat access logs showing 500 status codes for GET/POST requests to API endpoints.
• File System:
  • No specific file-based IOCs, as the vulnerability is purely information disclosure via network responses.

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2025_32983_NETSCOUT_Stack_Trace {
    meta:
        description = "Detects NETSCOUT nGeniusONE stack trace information disclosure in HTTP responses"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-10"
        cve = "CVE-2025-32983"
        severity = "medium"
    strings:
        $java_trace = /java\.lang\.\w+Exception/
        $netscout_class = /com\.netscout\.ngeniusone/
        $at_pattern = /at\s+[\w\.]+\([\w\.]+\.java:\d+\)/
        $caused_by = /Caused by:/
    condition:
        any of ($java_trace, $netscout_class, $at_pattern) and $caused_by
}

Sigma Rule

title: NETSCOUT nGeniusONE Stack Trace Information Disclosure
id: 8a9b7c6d-5e4f-3a2b-1c0d-9e8f7a6b5c4d
status: experimental
description: Detects HTTP 500 responses containing Java stack traces from NETSCOUT nGeniusONE
author: Valters IT
date: 2025-04-10
tags:
    - cve.2025.32983
    - attack.t1213
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: tomcat
detection:
    selection:
        sc-status: 500
        cs-uri-query|contains:
            - 'ngeniusone'
            - 'nGeniusONE'
        sc-bytes|contains:
            - 'java.lang.'
            - 'com.netscout.'
            - 'Caused by:'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate debugging sessions
    - Internal development environments
level: medium

Suricata Rule

alert http $HOME_NET any -> $EXTERNAL_NET any (
    msg:"CVE-2025-32983 NETSCOUT nGeniusONE Stack Trace Information Disclosure";
    flow:to_client,established;
    content:"HTTP/1.1 500 Internal Server Error";
    content:"java.lang."; distance:0;
    content:"com.netscout."; distance:0;
    content:"Caused by:"; distance:0;
    classtype:attempted-recon;
    sid:10000001;
    rev:1;
    reference:cve,2025-32983;
)

Remediation & Mitigation

1. Patch: Upgrade to NETSCOUT nGeniusONE version 6.4.0 b2350 or later. This is the only complete fix.
2. WAF Rule: Deploy a WAF rule to block HTTP responses containing java.lang., com.netscout., or Caused by:.
3. Application Server Configuration: Configure Tomcat/Spring Boot to suppress stack traces in production:
   • Spring Boot: server.error.include-stacktrace=never
   • Tomcat: Set org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHostValve.errorReportValveClass to a custom class that returns a generic error page.
4. Logging: Ensure all exceptions are logged server-side with full stack traces for debugging, but never returned to the client.
5. Network Segmentation: Restrict access to the nGeniusONE management interface to trusted internal networks only.

Valters IT