CVE-2012-4074 in Unified Computing System
Summary
by MITRE
The Board Management Controller (BMC) in the Serial over LAN (SoL) subsystem in Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) relies on a hardcoded private key, which allows man-in-the-middle attackers to obtain sensitive information or modify the data stream by leveraging knowledge of this key, aka Bug ID CSCte90338.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/07/2022
The vulnerability described in CVE-2012-4074 represents a critical security flaw within Cisco Unified Computing System's Board Management Controller implementation. This weakness specifically affects the Serial over LAN subsystem which provides remote management capabilities for Cisco UCS infrastructure. The BMC serves as a critical component for out-of-band management, enabling administrators to monitor and control servers even when the primary operating system is unresponsive or offline. The flaw stems from the use of a hardcoded private key within the SoL implementation, creating a fundamental cryptographic weakness that undermines the security of the entire remote management framework.
The technical nature of this vulnerability can be categorized under CWE-327, which addresses the use of a broken or weak cryptographic algorithm. The hardcoded private key creates a situation where any attacker who can obtain knowledge of this secret value can establish a man-in-the-middle position within the communication channel. This weakness directly enables attackers to perform credential harvesting attacks, where sensitive authentication information can be intercepted and potentially reused for unauthorized access to the management interfaces. The vulnerability also allows for data stream modification, enabling attackers to alter management commands or responses without detection, thereby compromising the integrity of the remote management operations.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends far beyond simple information disclosure, as it fundamentally undermines the trust model of the entire UCS management infrastructure. Attackers can leverage this weakness to gain unauthorized access to critical system management functions, potentially leading to complete system compromise. The vulnerability affects the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the management communications, making it particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where UCS systems are deployed. Organizations utilizing Cisco UCS infrastructure face significant risk of unauthorized system access, data manipulation, and potential lateral movement within their network infrastructure.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate action from affected organizations, including the implementation of network segmentation to isolate management traffic and the deployment of additional authentication layers. The most effective remediation involves updating to Cisco software versions that address the hardcoded key issue and implement proper key management practices. Organizations should also consider implementing network monitoring solutions to detect anomalous management traffic patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. Additionally, the use of secure communication protocols such as TLS with properly managed certificates should be enforced to prevent the exploitation of this weakness. This vulnerability highlights the importance of proper cryptographic key management practices and the dangers of hardcoded credentials in network infrastructure components, aligning with ATT&CK technique T1566 which covers credential harvesting through network sniffing and man-in-the-middle attacks. The incident demonstrates the critical need for regular security assessments and vulnerability management programs to identify and remediate such fundamental weaknesses in enterprise infrastructure components.