Universal Forwarder management services allows remote login by default
In universal forwarder versions before 9.0, management services are available remotely by default. When not required, it introduces a potential exposure, but it is not a vulnerability. If exposed, we recommend each customer assess the potential severity specific to your environment. In 9.0, the universal forwarder now binds the management port to localhost preventing remote logins by default. If management services are not required in versions before 9.0, set disableDefaultPort = true in server.conf OR allowRemoteLogin = never in server.conf OR mgmtHostPort = localhost in web.conf. See Configure universal forwarder management security (https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/9.0.0/Security/EnableTLSCertHostnameValidation#Configure_universal_forwarder_management_security) for more information on disabling the remote management services.
- Published
- Jun 15, 2022
- Updated
- Jun 17, 2026
- EPSS
- 2.0% · 80th percentile
- CWE
- CWE-732
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Report tools
Action score
31
Monitor
Low priority for now.
- CVSS
- 30 / 40 · 7.5 / 10
- CISA KEV
- 0 / 30 · Not listed
- EPSS
- 1 / 30 · 2.0%
Affected systems
| Vendor | Product | CPE |
|---|---|---|
| splunk | splunk | cpe:2.3:a:splunk:splunk |
| splunk | splunk cloud platform | cpe:2.3:a:splunk:splunk_cloud_platform |
Affected versions
NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.
- splunk splunkbefore 9.0
- splunk splunk cloud platformbefore 8.2.2106
Versions reported by the vendor
Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (Splunk). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.
Splunk, Inc Universal Forwarder
- 9.0 and later · before 9.0affected
Same product
splunk: all recordsOther highest-scoring records for the same primary product.
- CVE-2026-20253Unauthenticated Arbitrary File Creation and Truncation in a PostgreSQL Sidecar Service Endpoint in Splunk EnterpriseKEV98Now
- CVE-2023-32707‘edit_user’ Capability Privilege Escalation59Plan
- CVE-2018-11409Splunk through 7.0.1 allows information disclosure by appending __raw/services/server/info/server-info?output_mode=json to a query, as demon50Plan
- CVE-2026-20251Remote Code Execution through Deserialization of Untrusted Data in Splunk Secure Gateway45Plan
- CVE-2023-32714Path Traversal in Splunk App for Lookup File Editing45Plan
- CVE-2022-32158Splunk Enterprise deployment servers allow client publishing of forwarder bundles40Plan
Remediation
Which version to upgrade to
Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.
No fix version is recorded for this entry. Check the references for vendor advisories.
Exploit status
No known public exploit
No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.
Research context
For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.
Timeline
From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.
No dated events beyond publication.
FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).
Patch and commit links
Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.
No commit or PR link among the references.
Credits
All researchersFinders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.
- Chris GreenSplunk
Variant candidates
Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.
No nightly-computed relations.
Chain candidates
An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.
—
Bug bounty scope
No known public program.
Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).
Technical details
Attack conditions
- Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
- No account or password is required.
- No user action is required.
- No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
If successful
- Confidentiality
- high · data can be read
- Integrity
- none
- Availability
- none
- Attack vector
- Network
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality impact
- High
- Integrity impact
- None
- Availability impact
- None
Weakness class (CWE)
CWE-732 · Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical ResourceCVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
nvd-primary
Attack context
MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.
Attack patterns (CAPEC)
- Accessing Functionality Not Properly Constrained by ACLsCAPEC-1likelihood: High · High
- Privilege AbuseCAPEC-122likelihood: High · Medium
- Directory IndexingCAPEC-127likelihood: High · Medium
- Using Malicious FilesCAPEC-17likelihood: High · Very High
- Exploiting Incorrectly Configured Access Control Security LevelsCAPEC-180likelihood: High · Medium
- Signing Malicious CodeCAPEC-206Very High
- Hijacking a privileged processCAPEC-234Medium
- Reusing Session IDs (aka Session Replay)CAPEC-60likelihood: High · High
ATT&CK techniques
- File and Directory DiscoveryT1083
- Access Token Manipulation:Token Impersonation/TheftT1134.001
- Server Software Component: Terminal Services DLLT1505.005
- Abuse Elevation Control MechanismT1548
- Use Alternate Authentication Material:Web Session CookieT1550.004
- Subvert Trust Controls:Code SigningT1553.002
- Compromise Client Software BinaryT1554
- Hijack Execution Flow:Executable Installer File Permissions WeaknessT1574.005
- Hijack Execution Flow: ServicesFile Permissions WeaknessT1574.010
Noroxi analysis
No Noroxi analysis for this record yet
We don't hand-write analysis for all 385,000+ vulnerabilities; that wouldn't be honest. For notable, high-impact vulnerabilities our team writes the mechanism, detection and remediation steps.
We use this product, ask for helpChange log
No changes recorded on tracked fields yet. Score, KEV, exploit maturity and fix status changes appear here.
References
- docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/9.0.0/Security/EnableTLSCertHostnameValidation#Configure_universal_forwarder_management_security
- docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/9.0.0/Security/Updates
- www.splunk.com/en_us/product-security/announcements/svd-2022-0605.html
Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.