In a recent security advisory, Cisco, a prominent networking and cybersecurity company, has highlighted multiple vulnerabilities found in their Catalyst SD-WAN Manager, formerly known as Cisco SD-WAN vManage. These vulnerabilities pose a significant risk as they could potentially allow cyber attackers to gain unauthorized access to affected systems or conduct a denial of service (DoS) attack.
It is important to note that there are currently no workarounds available to mitigate these vulnerabilities. This means that immediate action is necessary in order to address these critical issues. Cisco has urged its users to take the necessary steps to ensure the security of their systems.
Let’s take a closer look at the vulnerabilities that have been unveiled and their corresponding Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) and Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) scores:
1. CVE-2023-20252: This vulnerability involves unauthorized access to Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager via Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) APIs. Even if unauthenticated, an attacker could potentially gain unauthorized access to the application as an arbitrary user. This vulnerability is rated as Critical with a CVSS Base Score of 9.8.
2. CVE-2023-20253: This vulnerability affects the CLI (Command-Line Interface) of Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager. An authenticated, local attacker with read-only privileges could bypass authorization and roll back controller configurations, which could then be deployed to downstream routers. This vulnerability is rated as High with a CVSS Base Score of 8.4.
3. CVE-2023-20034: This vulnerability involves an information disclosure vulnerability where an unauthenticated, remote attacker can access the Elasticsearch database of an affected system with the privileges of the Elasticsearch user. It is rated as High with a CVSS Base Score of 7.5.
4. CVE-2023-20254: This vulnerability pertains to the session management system of Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager’s multi-tenant feature. An authenticated, remote attacker could access another tenant managed by the same instance, potentially leading to unauthorized configuration changes or causing a DoS situation. It has a High severity rating with a CVSS Base Score of 7.2.
5. CVE-2023-20262: Lastly, there is a vulnerability in the SSH (Secure Shell) service of Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager, which could lead to a process crash, resulting in a DoS condition for SSH access. This vulnerability is rated as Medium with a CVSS Base Score of 5.3.
These vulnerabilities impact Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager, and it is crucial for users to determine if their software releases are vulnerable. In response to these vulnerabilities, Cisco has released software updates to address the issues. Users with service contracts should obtain security fixes through their usual channels.
To protect against vulnerabilities like these, users can utilize Patch Manager Plus, a solution that can quickly patch over 850 third-party applications. Taking advantage of the free trial offered by Patch Manager Plus can help ensure 100% security for organizations.
In conclusion, the critical vulnerabilities identified in Cisco’s Catalyst SD-WAN Manager pose a significant risk to affected systems. It is essential for users to take immediate action to address these vulnerabilities by obtaining the necessary software updates provided by Cisco. By doing so, organizations can mitigate the risk of unauthorized access and potential DoS attacks.