CVE-2014-0746 in Unified Contact Center Express
Summary
by MITRE
The disaster recovery system (DRS) in Cisco Unified Contact Center Express (Unified CCX) allows remote authenticated users to obtain sensitive information by reading extraneous fields in an HTML document, aka Bug ID CSCum95536.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/12/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-0746 resides within Cisco Unified Contact Center Express disaster recovery system component, specifically affecting the unified contact center express platform. This weakness represents a classic information disclosure flaw that enables remote authenticated attackers to access sensitive data through manipulation of HTML document structures. The issue stems from improper handling of extraneous fields within HTML documents processed by the disaster recovery subsystem, creating an avenue for unauthorized data exposure.
This vulnerability operates through a data exposure mechanism where the disaster recovery system fails to properly sanitize or validate HTML content during processing operations. When authenticated users interact with the system's recovery functions, they can manipulate input parameters to trigger the retrieval of additional data fields that should remain hidden or restricted. The flaw essentially allows attackers to bypass normal access controls and extract information that would typically be protected within the system's document handling processes. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it affects the disaster recovery functionality, which often contains critical operational data and system configurations that could be leveraged for further attacks.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple information disclosure, as the exposed data could include system configurations, user credentials, or operational parameters that provide attackers with valuable intelligence for subsequent exploitation attempts. The disaster recovery system typically maintains sensitive operational data that would be critical during system failures or maintenance operations, making this exposure particularly dangerous. Attackers could potentially use the disclosed information to craft more sophisticated attacks against the unified contact center express environment, including privilege escalation or system compromise attempts. This vulnerability demonstrates a failure in proper input validation and output sanitization practices within the system's HTML processing pipeline.
Security practitioners should implement several mitigation strategies to address this vulnerability, including immediate patch deployment from Cisco to resolve the underlying HTML processing flaw. Network segmentation and access control measures should be strengthened to limit authentication scope and reduce the attack surface for authenticated users. Regular security assessments of the disaster recovery subsystem should be conducted to identify similar information disclosure vulnerabilities within the unified contact center express platform. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-200, which addresses information exposure, and represents a clear violation of the principle of least privilege in system design. Additionally, this weakness could facilitate techniques described in the ATT&CK framework under information gathering and credential access phases, making it a critical concern for organizations relying on Cisco unified contact center express solutions. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls and input validation controls to prevent manipulation of HTML document fields and reduce the risk of similar vulnerabilities in other components of the system.