CVE-2002-1272 in AOS
Summary
by MITRE
Alcatel OmniSwitch 7700/7800 switches running AOS 5.1.1 contains a back door telnet server that was intended for development but not removed before distribution, which allows remote attackers to gain administrative privileges.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/15/2024
The Alcatel OmniSwitch 7700 and 7800 series switches represent critical network infrastructure equipment used in enterprise and service provider environments for managing high-speed data communications. These switches operate on AOS 5.1.1 firmware version, which contains a significant security vulnerability that undermines the integrity of the network infrastructure. The vulnerability manifests as an unintended backdoor telnet server that persists in the production firmware, creating a persistent security risk that can be exploited by unauthorized parties without legitimate credentials.
This security flaw constitutes a serious design oversight where development tools and debugging mechanisms were inadvertently left enabled in the final product distribution. The backdoor telnet server operates silently in the background, listening for incoming connections on a specific port and accepting predetermined authentication credentials. This configuration allows remote attackers to establish administrative sessions with full privileges, effectively bypassing all standard authentication mechanisms and network access controls that should normally protect these critical network devices. The vulnerability directly violates fundamental security principles of least privilege and defense in depth, as it provides an unrestricted path to administrative control that bypasses all normal security measures.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple unauthorized access to encompass complete network compromise and potential data exfiltration. An attacker who successfully exploits this backdoor can gain complete control over the switch configuration, modify routing tables, implement man-in-the-middle attacks, and potentially disrupt network services across the entire infrastructure. This vulnerability can be exploited from any location with network connectivity to the affected switches, making it particularly dangerous as it requires no local access or specialized knowledge of the target network topology. The persistent nature of the backdoor means that once discovered and exploited, it remains available for continued use until the firmware is updated or the device is physically reconfigured, creating an ongoing risk to network security.
The technical implementation of this backdoor aligns with CWE-254, which addresses security weaknesses related to insufficient logging or monitoring of security-relevant events, and CWE-284, which covers improper access control mechanisms. This vulnerability also maps to several ATT&CK techniques including T1078 for valid accounts and T1021 for remote services, as it enables unauthorized remote access through legitimate network services. Organizations should immediately implement network segmentation to isolate these vulnerable devices, disable unnecessary services, and deploy network monitoring tools to detect unauthorized access attempts. Firmware updates from Alcatel should be applied immediately to remediate this vulnerability, and network administrators should conduct comprehensive vulnerability assessments to identify any other instances of similar backdoors or development tools that may have been inadvertently included in production deployments.