CVE-2008-6706 in Communication Manager
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple unspecified vulnerabilities in the Web management interface in Avaya SIP Enablement Services (SES) 3.x and 4.0, as used with Avaya Communication Manager 3.1.x, allow remote attackers to obtain (1) application server configuration, (2) database server configuration including encrypted passwords, (3) a system utility that decrypts "subscriber table passwords," (4) a system utility that decrypts database passwords, and (5) a system utility that encrypts "subscriber table passwords."
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/11/2017
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2008-6706 represents a critical security flaw in Avaya SIP Enablement Services versions 3.x and 4.0 when integrated with Avaya Communication Manager 3.1.x. This issue resides within the web management interface of the system, creating a significant attack surface that enables remote adversaries to access sensitive system configurations and credentials. The flaw stems from inadequate access controls and insufficient input validation within the web interface components that manage system administration functions. Such vulnerabilities are particularly dangerous because they provide attackers with direct access to critical system information that would typically require local administrative privileges to obtain.
The technical nature of this vulnerability allows remote attackers to extract multiple categories of sensitive information through the web management interface. The system exposes configuration details of both the application server and database server, including encrypted passwords that are stored within the database. Additionally, the interface provides access to specialized system utilities that can decrypt subscriber table passwords and database passwords, as well as utilities for encrypting subscriber table passwords. This comprehensive access to decryption and encryption utilities represents a particularly severe weakness because it allows attackers to not only read existing encrypted credentials but also potentially modify or create new encrypted entries within the system.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple information disclosure to encompass full system compromise potential. Attackers who successfully exploit this vulnerability can gain access to encrypted passwords stored in the database, which may include administrative credentials for various system components. The availability of decryption utilities means that even if passwords are encrypted, they can be readily converted back to plaintext form. This creates a scenario where attackers can effectively bypass authentication mechanisms and gain unauthorized access to system resources. The presence of encryption utilities also allows attackers to potentially modify the system's security posture by creating new encrypted credentials that they control.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-200 (Information Exposure) and CWE-312 (Sensitive Data Exposure) categories, as it exposes sensitive configuration data and encrypted credentials to unauthorized parties. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to T1087 (Account Discovery) and T1566 (Phishing) techniques, as attackers can use the disclosed information to conduct targeted credential harvesting attacks. The weakness also represents a failure in the principle of least privilege, as the web interface provides access to administrative utilities that should typically be restricted to local system administrators. Organizations using affected versions of Avaya SIP Enablement Services face significant risk of unauthorized system access, data breaches, and potential complete system compromise. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of proper access controls in web-based management interfaces and the dangers of exposing administrative utilities through network-accessible services.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate action including applying available patches from Avaya, implementing network segmentation to restrict access to the web management interface, and disabling unnecessary web administration services. Organizations should also conduct comprehensive security assessments to identify all instances of the vulnerable software and ensure proper access controls are in place. The remediation process should include reviewing and tightening authentication mechanisms, implementing multi-factor authentication for administrative access, and establishing monitoring procedures to detect unauthorized access attempts. Additionally, system administrators should regularly review and update access controls to ensure that only authorized personnel have access to critical system utilities and configuration information.