CVE-2007-2034 in Wireless Control System
Summary
by MITRE
Unspecified vulnerability in Cisco Wireless Control System (WCS) before 4.0.87.0 allows remote authenticated users to gain the privileges of the SuperUsers group, and manage the application and its networks, related to the group membership of user accounts, aka Bug ID CSCsg05190.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/15/2017
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2007-2034 affects Cisco Wireless Control System version 4.0.87.0 and earlier, representing a critical privilege escalation flaw that enables authenticated remote attackers to assume the privileges of SuperUsers within the system. This vulnerability specifically targets the group membership management functionality of user accounts, creating a significant security weakness that undermines the application's access control mechanisms. The issue manifests when legitimate users with authenticated sessions can exploit flaws in the system's authorization logic to escalate their privileges, effectively gaining administrative control over the wireless network infrastructure they manage.
This vulnerability falls under the category of privilege escalation as defined by CWE-264, specifically CWE-264: Permissions, Privileges, and Access Controls, and represents a serious deviation from the principle of least privilege that should govern all enterprise network management systems. The flaw allows attackers to manipulate user account group memberships in a way that grants them elevated privileges without proper authentication or authorization. The SuperUsers group typically possesses comprehensive administrative rights including the ability to configure wireless networks, manage user accounts, modify system settings, and control access policies. When an attacker can assume these privileges, they effectively gain complete control over the wireless infrastructure managed by the Cisco WCS, enabling them to conduct unauthorized network modifications, data exfiltration, or establish persistent access points within the network.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends far beyond simple unauthorized access, as it provides attackers with the capability to completely compromise the wireless network security posture of affected organizations. Once an attacker gains SuperUser privileges, they can modify wireless access points configurations, create unauthorized user accounts, disable security features, and potentially redirect network traffic through maliciously configured access points. This vulnerability directly impacts the CIA triad, specifically compromising both confidentiality and integrity of the wireless network management system, as unauthorized parties can access sensitive network configuration data and modify critical network parameters without detection. The attack vector requires only remote authenticated access, meaning that an attacker who has already obtained valid credentials for any user account within the WCS system can leverage this vulnerability to escalate their privileges and assume full administrative control.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should immediately implement mitigations including upgrading to Cisco WCS version 4.0.87.0 or later, which contains the necessary patches to address the privilege escalation flaw. Additional security measures should include implementing strict access controls for administrative accounts, monitoring user account group membership changes, and conducting regular security audits of user privileges within the wireless management system. Network segmentation and monitoring of administrative activities within the WCS environment can help detect suspicious privilege escalation attempts. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to T1078 Valid Accounts and T1548 Abuse of Cloud Admin Permissions, as it allows attackers to leverage existing valid credentials to escalate privileges and gain administrative access to network infrastructure. The vulnerability also aligns with T1484 Domain Policy Modification, as the privilege escalation affects the system's authorization policies and user access controls. Organizations should also consider implementing multi-factor authentication for administrative accounts and establishing robust audit logging to track user privilege changes and detect potential exploitation attempts.