CVE-2013-3451 in Unified Communications Manager
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerabilities in Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Unified CM) allow remote attackers to hijack the authentication of arbitrary users for requests that perform arbitrary Unified CM operations, aka Bug ID CSCui13033.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/01/2019
Cisco Unified Communications Manager represents a critical component in enterprise voice and collaboration environments serving as the core control system for IP-based phone systems. These CSRF vulnerabilities exist within the web-based administration interface of Unified CM versions 8.5 and earlier, creating a fundamental flaw in the authentication mechanism that allows malicious actors to execute unauthorized operations. The vulnerability stems from the absence of proper anti-CSRF token validation in the web application's request processing, enabling attackers to craft malicious requests that appear legitimate to the system.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through the manipulation of HTTP requests that target the Unified CM web interface. Attackers can construct specially crafted web pages or send malicious emails containing links that, when clicked by authenticated users, automatically submit requests to the Unified CM server. These requests can perform arbitrary operations including adding new users, modifying system configurations, changing passwords, or even disabling critical communication services. The flaw operates at the application layer where the system fails to validate the authenticity of requests, making it particularly dangerous as it bypasses normal authentication mechanisms.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple privilege escalation, as it can lead to complete system compromise and disruption of critical business communications. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability can gain persistent access to the Unified CM system, potentially leading to man-in-the-middle attacks, unauthorized surveillance of communications, or complete denial of service for voice services. The vulnerability affects organizations relying on Cisco's unified communications infrastructure, including large enterprises, healthcare systems, financial institutions, and government agencies that depend on secure voice communications. This represents a significant risk to business continuity and information security, as the attack can be executed remotely without requiring any special privileges or access to the internal network.
Mitigation strategies should include immediate implementation of the vendor-provided security patches and updates for Unified CM versions 8.5 and earlier. Organizations must also deploy web application firewalls to monitor and filter suspicious requests, implement proper CSRF token validation mechanisms, and establish network segmentation to limit access to the Unified CM administration interface. Additionally, regular security assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities in other enterprise systems. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery weaknesses, and maps to ATT&CK technique T1566 for initial access through spearphishing, demonstrating how such vulnerabilities can serve as entry points for broader attacks within enterprise networks.