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  • Advisories

SAP Security Notes: February 2020 Vulnerabilities and Mitigation

The February 2020 SAP security notes address a high-risk Denial of Service (DoS) vulnerability in the SAP Host Agent and missing input validation vulnerabilities in SAP Landscape Management. These patches require specific configuration changes, including blocking untrusted network access and enabling internal operation checks to secure SAP environments against potential exploits.

Executive Summary

The February 2020 SAP security update focuses on critical vulnerabilities within the SAP Host Agent and SAP Landscape Management. Note 2841053 addresses a high-risk Denial of Service (DoS) vulnerability, where username/password-based authentication requests can be delayed due to system-level rate limiting during brute-force protection. Mitigation requires restricting access to Host Agent ports 1128 and 1129, binding access to specific IP addresses, or enforcing certificate-based authentication.

Simultaneously, Notes 2878030 and 2877968 resolve missing input validation flaws in SAP Landscape Management. These vulnerabilities could allow attackers with administrative privileges to execute malicious commands with root privileges within the SAP Host Agent. Remediation involves enabling specific internal operation checks and executing the RuntimeInternalOperationValidator to activate necessary security fixes. Organizations should review these advisories to ensure that patches are correctly applied and validated across all hosts.

Key Takeaways

  • SAP Host Agent: Note 2841053 patches a high-risk Denial of Service (DoS) vulnerability affecting authentication requests.
  • Landscape Management: Notes 2878030 and 2877968 address missing input validation vulnerabilities that could lead to unauthorized root command execution.
  • Host Agent Mitigation: Restrict access to ports 1128 and 1129 or enforce certificate-based authentication to prevent DoS exploitation.
  • Validation Requirements: Enable SAP Landscape Management Internal Operation Check and LVMIntOpOld before applying patches.
  • Post-Patching: Run RuntimeInternalOperationValidator after applying updates to ensure fixes are active on all hosts.

Summary of February 2020 SAP Security Notes

The following table summarizes the vulnerabilities addressed in the February 2020 security release.

NoteComponentVulnerability TypeMitigation Strategy
2841053SAP Host AgentDenial of Service (DoS)Block untrusted access or use certificate-based auth
2878030Landscape ManagementMissing Input ValidationEnable LVMIntOpOld and run validator
2877968Landscape ManagementMissing Input ValidationEnable LVMIntOpOld and run validator

How do you mitigate the SAP Host Agent DoS vulnerability?

You can mitigate the Denial of Service vulnerability identified in Note 2841053 by restricting access to the SAP Host Agent ports 1128 and 1129 from untrusted networks. Alternatively, you can bind access to specific IP addresses or hostnames using the service/hostname profile parameter or an access control list within the hostprofile. A third option is to disable username/password-based authentication entirely by setting the saphostagent/authenticationmethod parameter to disabled, which requires the use of certificate-based authentication.

How do you address input validation issues in SAP Landscape Management?

To address the vulnerabilities in Notes 2878030 and 2877968, administrators must enable the SAP Landscape Management Internal Operation Check and LVMIntOpOld options before applying the referenced support package corrections. After the corrections are installed, you must execute the RuntimeInternalOperationValidator to ensure the fixes are properly activated on all hosts. This prevents attackers with admin privileges from executing commands with root privileges.

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