📄 Description (English)
Nostromo nhttpd Directory Traversal Vulnerability — Nostromo nhttpd contains a directory traversal vulnerability in the http_verify() function in a non-chrooted nhttpd server allowing for remote code execution.
🤖 AI Executive Summary
CVE-2019-16278 is a critical directory traversal vulnerability (CVSS 9.0) in Nostromo nhttpd web server that allows unauthenticated remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via the http_verify() function. The vulnerability affects non-chrooted nhttpd deployments and has a publicly available exploit, making it trivially exploitable. This flaw enables full system compromise, potentially leading to data exfiltration, ransomware deployment, or lateral movement within the network. Immediate patching is strongly recommended given the active exploitation potential.
📄 Description (Arabic)
🤖 AI Intelligence Analysis Analyzed: Apr 14, 2026 15:33
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia Impact Assessment
Saudi organizations running Nostromo nhttpd as a lightweight web server in internal or internet-facing environments are at significant risk. Government entities under NCA oversight and energy sector organizations (including ARAMCO subsidiaries) that may use nhttpd for internal tooling or legacy systems face the highest exposure. Banking and financial institutions regulated by SAMA could be impacted if nhttpd is deployed in DMZ or development environments. Telecom providers such as STC using nhttpd for internal services are also at risk. Given the public exploit availability and ease of exploitation, threat actors including APT groups known to target Saudi infrastructure (e.g., OilRig/APT34) could leverage this for initial access and lateral movement.
🏢 Affected Saudi Sectors
Government
Energy
Telecom
Banking
Healthcare
Education
Defense
⚖️ Saudi Risk Score (AI)
9.2
/ 10.0
🔧 Remediation Steps (English)
IMMEDIATE ACTIONS:
1. Identify all instances of Nostromo nhttpd across your environment using asset inventory and network scanning tools (e.g., Shodan queries, Nmap service detection).
2. Isolate or take offline any internet-facing nhttpd instances immediately until patching is complete.
3. Block external access to nhttpd ports (typically TCP 80/443) via firewall rules as a compensating control.
PATCHING GUIDANCE:
4. Upgrade Nostromo nhttpd to version 1.9.7 or later which addresses this vulnerability.
5. If upgrading is not immediately possible, configure nhttpd to run in a chrooted environment as a temporary mitigation.
6. Consider replacing nhttpd with a more actively maintained web server (Apache, Nginx) for production use.
COMPENSATING CONTROLS:
7. Implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block directory traversal patterns (e.g., ../, %2e%2e%2f).
8. Apply network segmentation to limit blast radius if exploitation occurs.
9. Enable process-level monitoring to detect unusual child processes spawned by nhttpd.
DETECTION RULES:
10. SIEM alert: Monitor HTTP requests containing '../', '%2e%2e', '..%2f', or similar traversal sequences targeting nhttpd.
11. IDS/IPS signature: Detect HTTP GET/POST requests with path traversal patterns to nhttpd endpoints.
12. EDR rule: Alert on nhttpd spawning shell processes (sh, bash, cmd) as child processes.
13. Log review: Audit nhttpd access logs for anomalous path requests and unusual HTTP methods.
🔧 خطوات المعالجة (العربية)
الإجراءات الفورية:
1. تحديد جميع نسخ Nostromo nhttpd في بيئتك باستخدام أدوات جرد الأصول وفحص الشبكة.
2. عزل أو إيقاف تشغيل أي نسخ nhttpd مكشوفة على الإنترنت فوراً حتى اكتمال التصحيح.
3. حظر الوصول الخارجي إلى منافذ nhttpd (عادةً TCP 80/443) عبر قواعد جدار الحماية كإجراء تعويضي.
إرشادات التصحيح:
4. ترقية Nostromo nhttpd إلى الإصدار 1.9.7 أو أحدث الذي يعالج هذه الثغرة.
5. إذا تعذرت الترقية فوراً، قم بتهيئة nhttpd للعمل في بيئة chroot كتخفيف مؤقت.
6. النظر في استبدال nhttpd بخادم ويب أكثر صيانة (Apache أو Nginx) للاستخدام الإنتاجي.
ضوابط التعويض:
7. تطبيق قواعد جدار حماية تطبيقات الويب (WAF) للكشف عن أنماط اجتياز المسار وحظرها.
8. تطبيق تجزئة الشبكة للحد من نطاق الضرر في حالة الاستغلال.
9. تفعيل مراقبة مستوى العمليات للكشف عن العمليات الفرعية غير المعتادة التي يولدها nhttpd.
قواعد الكشف:
10. تنبيه SIEM: مراقبة طلبات HTTP التي تحتوي على أنماط اجتياز المسار مثل '../' و'%2e%2e'.
11. توقيع IDS/IPS: الكشف عن طلبات HTTP مع أنماط اجتياز المسار.
12. قاعدة EDR: التنبيه عند إنشاء nhttpd لعمليات shell كعمليات فرعية.
13. مراجعة السجلات: تدقيق سجلات وصول nhttpd بحثاً عن طلبات مسار شاذة.
📋 Regulatory Compliance Mapping
🟢 NCA ECC 2024
ECC-1-4-2: Cybersecurity Vulnerability Management
ECC-1-3-2: Secure Configuration Management
ECC-2-2-1: Web Application Security
ECC-1-5-1: Patch Management
ECC-3-3-3: Network Security Controls
🔵 SAMA CSF
3.3.6 Vulnerability Management
3.3.7 Patch Management
3.3.2 Network Security
3.4.1 Cyber Incident Management
3.2.5 Secure Configuration
🟡 ISO 27001:2022
A.12.6.1 Management of Technical Vulnerabilities
A.14.2.2 System Change Control Procedures
A.13.1.1 Network Controls
A.12.4.1 Event Logging
A.14.1.2 Securing Application Services on Public Networks
🟣 PCI DSS v4.0
Requirement 6.3.3: All system components are protected from known vulnerabilities
Requirement 6.2.4: Software engineering techniques to prevent web-based attacks
Requirement 11.3.1: Internal vulnerability scanning
Requirement 12.3.2: Targeted risk analysis for vulnerabilities
🔗 References & Sources 0
No references.
📦 Affected Products / CPE 1 entries
Nostromo:nhttpd