CVE-2007-0397 in Adaptive Security Device Manager
Summary
by MITRE
The Cisco Security Monitoring, Analysis and Response System (CS-MARS) before 4.2.3 and Adaptive Security Device Manager (ASDM) before 5.2(2.54) do not validate the SSL/TLS certificates or SSH public keys when connecting to devices, which allows remote attackers to spoof those devices to obtain sensitive information or generate incorrect information.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/13/2019
The vulnerability described in CVE-2007-0397 represents a critical weakness in Cisco's security infrastructure products that directly impacts the integrity and trustworthiness of network monitoring and management systems. This flaw affects the Cisco Security Monitoring, Analysis and Response System (CS-MARS) version 4.2.2 and earlier, as well as the Adaptive Security Device Manager (ASDM) version 5.2(2.54) and earlier versions. The issue stems from insufficient certificate validation mechanisms that allow malicious actors to establish fraudulent connections with security devices without proper authentication verification.
The technical flaw manifests in the absence of proper SSL/TLS certificate validation and SSH public key verification during connection establishment processes. This weakness enables attackers to perform man-in-the-middle attacks by presenting forged certificates or SSH keys that appear legitimate to the vulnerable systems. The vulnerability operates at the transport layer security validation level, where the systems fail to properly verify the authenticity of connecting devices against established trust anchors. This validation failure creates a path for attackers to impersonate legitimate network devices, potentially gaining unauthorized access to sensitive security information or injecting false data into the monitoring environment.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and multifaceted, as it undermines the fundamental security posture of organizations relying on these Cisco products for network monitoring and security management. Attackers can exploit this weakness to obtain confidential information from the CS-MARS system, including network topology details, security event logs, and other sensitive operational data. Additionally, the vulnerability enables the generation of incorrect information within the security monitoring environment, potentially leading to false security alerts, misconfigured network policies, and compromised incident response capabilities. The compromised integrity of security monitoring data can result in significant operational disruptions and may mask actual security breaches, creating a false sense of security for network administrators.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should immediately implement mitigations including upgrading to patched versions of CS-MARS 4.2.3 and ASDM 5.2(2.54) or later, which address the certificate validation issues through proper SSL/TLS and SSH key verification mechanisms. Network administrators should also consider implementing additional security controls such as network segmentation, enhanced monitoring of connection attempts, and regular certificate audits to detect potential unauthorized access attempts. From a compliance perspective, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-295, which addresses "Improper Certificate Validation," and relates to ATT&CK technique T1566 for credential access through phishing or man-in-the-middle attacks. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of certificate validation in maintaining secure communications and highlights the need for robust trust verification mechanisms in enterprise security infrastructure deployments.