CVE-2002-0171 in IRISconsole
Summary
by MITRE
IRISconsole 2.0 may allow users to log into the icadmin account with an incorrect password in some circumstances, which could allow users to gain privileges.
If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/17/2024
The vulnerability described in CVE-2002-0171 affects IRISconsole 2.0, a web-based console management system that provides administrative access to network infrastructure components. This issue represents a significant security flaw in the authentication mechanism that could potentially allow unauthorized users to escalate privileges and gain administrative access to the system. The vulnerability specifically impacts the icadmin account, which serves as the primary administrative interface for managing the console's operations and configuration settings. The flaw manifests when users attempt to authenticate with incorrect passwords under certain circumstances, creating an unexpected behavior in the authentication process that could be exploited by malicious actors.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from improper authentication handling within the IRISconsole 2.0 system. When users attempt to log into the icadmin account with incorrect credentials, the system should reject the authentication attempt and prevent access to administrative privileges. However, in certain scenarios, the system fails to properly validate the authentication request, allowing users to bypass normal authentication controls. This behavior indicates a potential weakness in the input validation and session management components of the application. The vulnerability likely resides in the application's authentication logic where insufficient checks are performed on credential validation, potentially allowing authentication bypass through malformed or unexpected input sequences. This type of flaw aligns with CWE-287 which addresses improper authentication issues, and represents a classic case of weak session management that could be exploited through privilege escalation techniques.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple unauthorized access, as it creates a pathway for attackers to gain full administrative control over the IRISconsole 2.0 system. Once an attacker successfully logs into the icadmin account, they would have complete control over all console functions, including the ability to modify system configurations, access sensitive network data, and potentially compromise the underlying network infrastructure that the console manages. The vulnerability could be particularly dangerous in environments where the console serves as a central management point for critical network components, as it would allow attackers to manipulate system settings, disable security controls, or establish persistent access to the network. This type of privilege escalation vulnerability directly impacts the integrity and availability of the managed systems, potentially leading to widespread security breaches within the network environment.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should implement immediate mitigations to prevent exploitation while planning for a comprehensive security assessment of their network infrastructure. The primary mitigation strategy involves ensuring that all authentication mechanisms are properly validated and that the system correctly rejects invalid login attempts for administrative accounts. Security administrators should also implement additional monitoring and logging of authentication events to detect suspicious login patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of following security best practices such as those outlined in the NIST Cybersecurity Framework and the ISO/IEC 27001 standard for information security management. Organizations should also consider implementing multi-factor authentication for administrative accounts, network segmentation to limit access to critical systems, and regular security audits to identify similar authentication flaws. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to privilege escalation techniques and credential access phases, highlighting the need for robust authentication controls and monitoring of administrative access patterns. The incident should also trigger a review of the system's input validation mechanisms and session management protocols to prevent similar issues from occurring in other components of the network infrastructure.