CVE-2013-5523 in Identity Services Engine Software
Summary
by MITRE
The Sponsor Portal in Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) 1.2 and earlier does not properly restrict use of IFRAME elements, which makes it easier for remote attackers to conduct clickjacking attacks and unspecified other attacks via a crafted web site, related to a "cross-frame scripting (XFS)" issue, aka Bug ID CSCui82666.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/08/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2013-5523 affects the Sponsor Portal component within Cisco Identity Services Engine version 1.2 and earlier releases. This security flaw represents a significant concern for organizations utilizing Cisco ISE for network access control and identity management. The vulnerability stems from insufficient restrictions on IFRAME element usage, creating a dangerous exposure that enables malicious actors to exploit cross-frame scripting techniques. The issue manifests as a failure to properly validate and control the embedding of web content from external sources, thereby compromising the security boundaries that should exist between different application components.
The technical nature of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-745, which addresses the improper restriction of operations within a single cross-frame context. The Sponsor Portal in Cisco ISE fails to implement adequate security controls that would prevent malicious websites from embedding the portal content within their own pages using IFRAME tags. This weakness creates an environment where attackers can craft malicious web pages that contain hidden IFRAME elements pointing to the vulnerable Cisco ISE Sponsor Portal. When unsuspecting users navigate to these crafted websites, they may unknowingly interact with the embedded portal content, enabling attackers to perform unauthorized actions through clickjacking techniques.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple clickjacking attacks to encompass a broader range of potential exploitation vectors. Attackers can leverage this weakness to perform unauthorized administrative actions, access restricted network resources, or manipulate user sessions within the ISE environment. The vulnerability's classification under the ATT&CK framework would place it within the Privilege Escalation and Defense Evasion domains, as it allows attackers to bypass security controls and potentially escalate their privileges within the network access control system. Organizations relying on Cisco ISE for critical network security functions face substantial risk if this vulnerability remains unpatched, as it could enable attackers to compromise the integrity of the entire identity services infrastructure.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2013-5523 should prioritize immediate patching of affected Cisco ISE installations to version 1.3 or later, which contains the necessary security fixes. Organizations should also implement additional defensive measures including the deployment of Content Security Policy (CSP) headers that restrict IFRAME embedding capabilities, network-level monitoring for suspicious cross-frame scripting attempts, and regular security assessments of web applications within the ISE environment. The implementation of proper frame-busting techniques and the enforcement of strict cross-origin resource sharing policies would further reduce the attack surface. Security teams should also consider conducting comprehensive penetration testing to identify any additional vulnerabilities within the ISE ecosystem and establish monitoring procedures to detect potential exploitation attempts.