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Nozomi Arc EUVDEUVD-2026-55995

| CVE-2026-33921 MEDIUM
Initialization of a Resource with an Insecure Default (CWE-1188)
2026-08-11 Nozomi GHSA-gwvc-2mf6-9jv4
4.8
CVSS 4.0 · Vendor: Nozomi
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Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

  1. Access
    Obtain local non-admin Windows session
  2. Delivery
    Access unrestricted Npcap driver (insecure default)
  3. Exploit
    Open raw packet capture on network interface
  4. Execution
    Exfiltrate plaintext OT/IT traffic from network segment
  5. Impact
    Inject crafted raw packets onto segment

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V13 - Configuration Secure default settings
Exploitation Conditions

Exploitation requires an active non-privileged (standard user) local Windows session on a host where Nozomi Arc was installed using the vulnerable installer. The critical enabling condition is that Npcap must have been deployed without the admin-only access restriction - this is the insecure default produced by the Arc installer and requires no deliberate misconfiguration by an administrator. No special network position, remote connectivity, or additional software beyond the already-installed Npcap driver is required. Exploitation is bounded by the need for a local user account and physical or remote desktop access to the specific Arc-hosting Windows machine; remote network-only access is insufficient. Systems where Npcap's admin-only registry key was manually set post-installation, or environments where all local accounts hold administrator privileges, are not exploitable under this issue.

Impact

The CVSS 4.0 vector (AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:N/SC:L/SI:L/SA:N) scores 4.8 Medium, accurately capturing that exploitation demands an authenticated local session and yields limited rather than total confidentiality or integrity compromise. EPSS data was not provided in source intelligence; given the local-only attack vector and specialized deployment context, opportunistic mass exploitation is unlikely. The vulnerability is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog and no public POC is known. Risk is contextually elevated in OT/ICS environments - Arc's primary market - where network traffic frequently carries unencrypted industrial protocols such as Modbus TCP, DNP3, and EtherNet/IP, meaning partial traffic capture can expose highly sensitive operational data, setpoints, or ladder logic. The packet injection capability additionally introduces network-layer spoofing or disruption of industrial devices. Shared-workstation and kiosk deployments common in industrial control rooms increase the probability that a non-admin user is present. The raw CVSS score represents the technical floor; real-world priority in OT contexts is meaningfully higher.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

A standard Windows domain user with a local session on an Arc-hosting workstation installs a legitimate packet capture utility such as Wireshark, which leverages the already-deployed and unrestricted Npcap driver without requiring administrator rights or UAC elevation. The user passively captures unencrypted Modbus TCP or DNP3 traffic flowing through the host, extracting PLC register values, device addresses, or engineering credentials in plaintext. Using the same Npcap raw-socket access, the attacker subsequently crafts and injects spoofed industrial protocol packets to manipulate a PLC setpoint or disrupt communication on the OT network segment. No public POC specific to this misconfiguration is known; standard Npcap-based tooling is sufficient.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Why: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9).
Patch available 0.1% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Aug 11, 2026

Nozomi Networks Arc for Windows installs the Npcap packet capture driver with its access restriction option left at the insecure default, making the driver accessible to all local users rather than administrators only. Any non-privileged local user on an affected host can leverage this misconfiguration to capture network traffic traversing the host's interfaces - exposing data from both the local system and peer hosts on the same network segment - and to inject arbitrary raw packets onto that segment. No public exploit has been identified and the CVSS 4.0 score of 4.8 reflects the local-access prerequisite; however, the dual capability of traffic capture and packet injection is operationally significant in the OT/ICS environments where Arc is primarily deployed, where industrial protocols are often unencrypted.

RemediationAI

The primary remediation is to deploy a corrected Nozomi Arc Windows installer that enables Npcap's administrator-only access restriction at installation time; consult the vendor advisory at https://security.nozominetworks.com/NN-2026:14-01 for the specific patched installer version, which was not independently confirmed from available data. As an immediate compensating control on already-deployed systems, administrators can manually enforce the restriction post-installation by setting the Windows registry value HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\npcap\Parameters\AdminOnly to 1 and restarting the Npcap driver service - note that this manual change may be overwritten by future Arc installer updates if the underlying installer defect is not addressed. Ensuring that only administrator-level accounts exist on Arc-hosting Windows machines eliminates the exploitable privilege boundary entirely, though this may conflict with operational access models in shared control-room environments. Monitoring for unexpected packet capture activity via EDR telemetry or Windows Security event logs can serve as a detective control in the interim.

Affected VersionsENISA

Arc 0 <2.7.0

Affected Packages

euvd arc fix: 2.7.0

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 1 package in euvd

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

Npcap is the Windows packet capture library widely used by security and network tools as a successor to WinPcap. It ships with an installer-time option (/admin_only) to restrict driver access exclusively to administrator accounts; when that option is omitted, the Windows NDIS filter driver becomes accessible to any local user through the WinPcap-compatible API. CWE-1188 (Initialization with an Insecure Default Value) identifies the root cause precisely: the Nozomi Arc Windows installer did not enable the admin-only access restriction when deploying Npcap, leaving the driver's default permissive ACL in place. The affected CPE is cpe:2.3:a:nozomi_networks:arc:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*, where the wildcard version range indicates that all Arc versions shipped with the vulnerable installer are affected until a corrected installer is released.

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  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

Vendor (Nozomi) PRIMARY 4.8 MEDIUM
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:N/SC:L/SI:L/SA:N
vuln.today AI 5.2 MEDIUM

Local non-admin session required (AV:L/PR:L); scope changes to adjacent hosts via traffic capture and packet injection (S:C/C:L/I:L); no availability impact.

3.1 AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
4.0 AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:N/SC:L/SI:L/SA:N
Red Hat 5.2 MEDIUM

Primary rating from Vendor (Nozomi).

CVSS VectorVendor: Nozomi

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Attack Requirements
None
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Vulnerable system: Confidentiality
Low
Vulnerable system: Integrity
Low
Vulnerable system: Availability
None
Subsequent system: Confidentiality
Low
Subsequent system: Integrity
Low
Subsequent system: Availability
None

Lifecycle Timeline

1
Patch available
Aug 11, 2026 - 11:02 EUVD

DescriptionCVE.org

The Windows installer deployed Npcap leaving its access restriction option at the insecure default value, so the driver was accessible to every local user of the host instead of being restricted to administrators only. A local user without administrative privileges could use the Npcap driver to capture the traffic reaching the host, which discloses information belonging both to the host and to other systems on the same network segment, and to send arbitrary raw packets on that segment.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.1%
Top 97% exploitable
Prevalence
Low
specialized OT/ICS security sensor, not general-purpose enterprise software
Data Quality
6 sources
Confidence: High

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity MEDIUM
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.1%
Patch available Yes
Active threat No
Deciding rule
MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Defer
Exploitation
None
System Exposure· derived
Small
Automatable
No
Human Impact· derived
Medium
Technical Impact
Partial

Priority Score

24
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +24
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Information disclosure occurs when an application unintentionally exposes sensitive data that aids attackers in reconnaissance or directly compromises security.

Vendor StatusVendor

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