Asterisk is an open source private branch exchange and telephony toolkit. Prior to versions 20.7-cert9, 20.18.2, 21.12.1, 22.8.2, and 23.2.2, the asterisk/contrib/scripts/ast_coredumper runs as root, as noted by the NOTES tag on line 689 of the ast_coredumper file. The script will source the contents of /etc/asterisk/ast_debug_tools.conf, which resides in a folder that is writeable by the asterisk user:group. Due to the /etc/asterisk/ast_debug_tools.conf file following bash semantics and it being loaded; an attacker with write permissions may add or modify the file such that when the root ast_coredumper is run; it would source and thereby execute arbitrary bash code found in the /etc/asterisk/ast_debug_tools.conf. This issue has been patched in versions 20.7-cert9, 20.18.2, 21.12.1, 22.8.2, and 23.2.2.
| Software | From | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| sangoma / asterisk | - | 20.18.2 |
| sangoma / asterisk | 21.0.0 | 21.12.1 |
| sangoma / asterisk | 22.0.0 | 22.8.2 |
| sangoma / asterisk | 23.0.0 | 23.2.2 |
| sangoma / certified_asterisk | - | 18.9.x |
| sangoma / certified_asterisk | 20.7-cert1 | 20.7-cert1.x |
| sangoma / certified_asterisk | 20.7-cert1-rc1 | 20.7-cert1-rc1.x |
| sangoma / certified_asterisk | 20.7-cert1-rc2 | 20.7-cert1-rc2.x |
| sangoma / certified_asterisk | 20.7-cert2 | 20.7-cert2.x |
| sangoma / certified_asterisk | 20.7-cert3 | 20.7-cert3.x |
| sangoma / certified_asterisk | 20.7-cert4 | 20.7-cert4.x |
| sangoma / certified_asterisk | 20.7-cert5 | 20.7-cert5.x |
| sangoma / certified_asterisk | 20.7-cert6 | 20.7-cert6.x |
| sangoma / certified_asterisk | 20.7-cert7 | 20.7-cert7.x |
| sangoma / certified_asterisk | 20.7-cert8 | 20.7-cert8.x |
A security vulnerability is a weakness in software, hardware, or configuration that can be exploited to compromise confidentiality, integrity, or availability. Many vulnerabilities are tracked as CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), which provide a standardized identifier so teams can coordinate patching, mitigation, and risk assessment across tools and vendors.
CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) estimates technical severity, but it doesn't automatically equal business risk. Prioritize using context like internet exposure, affected asset criticality, known exploitation (proof-of-concept or in-the-wild), and whether compensating controls exist. A "Medium" CVSS on an exposed, production system can be more urgent than a "Critical" on an isolated, non-production host.
A vulnerability is the underlying weakness. An exploit is the method or code used to take advantage of it. A zero-day is a vulnerability that is unknown to the vendor or has no publicly available fix when attackers begin using it. In practice, risk increases sharply when exploitation becomes reliable or widespread.
Recurring findings usually come from incomplete Asset Discovery, inconsistent patch management, inherited images, and configuration drift. In modern environments, you also need to watch the software supply chain: dependencies, containers, build pipelines, and third-party services can reintroduce the same weakness even after you patch a single host. Unknown or unmanaged assets (often called Shadow IT) are a common reason the same issues resurface.
Use a simple, repeatable triage model: focus first on externally exposed assets, high-value systems (identity, VPN, email, production), vulnerabilities with known exploits, and issues that enable remote code execution or privilege escalation. Then enforce patch SLAs and track progress using consistent metrics so remediation is steady, not reactive.
SynScan combines attack surface monitoring and continuous security auditing to keep your inventory current, flag high-impact vulnerabilities early, and help you turn raw findings into a practical remediation plan.