CVE-2012-4102 in Unified Computing System
Summary
by MITRE
The activate firmware command in the fabric-interconnect component in Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) allows local users to gain privileges by embedding commands in an unspecified parameter, aka Bug ID CSCtq02600.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/01/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2012-4102 resides within the fabric-interconnect component of Cisco Unified Computing System UCS, representing a critical privilege escalation flaw that directly impacts the security posture of enterprise data centers. This vulnerability specifically affects the activate firmware command functionality, which serves as a critical administrative interface for managing firmware updates across UCS infrastructure components. The flaw manifests through an insecure input validation mechanism that fails to properly sanitize user-supplied parameters, creating a pathway for malicious actors to inject arbitrary commands within the system's firmware activation process. The unspecified parameter mentioned in the vulnerability description represents a critical design oversight where the system does not adequately validate or escape input data before processing, allowing attackers to manipulate the command execution flow through carefully crafted parameter values.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability leverages command injection principles that align with CWE-77 and CWE-94, where user-controllable input is directly incorporated into system commands without proper sanitization or validation. Attackers can leverage this flaw to execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges, potentially gaining root access to the fabric-interconnect component and thereby compromising the entire UCS domain. The local user access requirement suggests that the attack vector typically involves an authenticated user with existing access to the UCS management interface, though the privilege escalation aspect could potentially allow for broader system compromise if combined with other vulnerabilities. The Bug ID CSCtq02600 indicates this was a known issue within Cisco's internal tracking system, highlighting the organization's awareness of the vulnerability prior to public disclosure and the need for immediate remediation.
Operationally, this vulnerability presents a severe risk to enterprise infrastructure security, particularly in data center environments where UCS systems manage critical networking and compute resources. The impact extends beyond simple privilege escalation as it can enable attackers to manipulate firmware images, potentially installing malicious firmware versions that persist across system reboots and could provide backdoor access. The fabric-interconnect serves as a central management point for UCS domains, making this vulnerability particularly dangerous as it could allow attackers to compromise the entire UCS fabric and potentially affect multiple servers and network components under its management. Organizations using Cisco UCS systems face significant operational risks including potential data breaches, service disruptions, and compliance violations, as the vulnerability could be exploited to establish persistent access to critical infrastructure.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2012-4102 should prioritize immediate implementation of Cisco's security patches and updates, which would address the command injection vulnerability through proper input validation and parameter sanitization. Network segmentation and access control measures should be strengthened to limit local user access to fabric-interconnect components, implementing the principle of least privilege to reduce the attack surface. Monitoring and logging should be enhanced to detect anomalous command execution patterns and unauthorized firmware activation attempts, leveraging security information and event management systems to identify potential exploitation attempts. Organizations should also implement regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning to identify similar issues in other components of their UCS infrastructure, while maintaining awareness of the ATT&CK framework's privilege escalation techniques that could leverage this vulnerability. The remediation process should include comprehensive testing of patches in non-production environments before deployment to ensure system stability and prevent potential service disruptions during the security update process.