CVE-2014-4707 in Campus
Summary
by MITRE
Huawei Campus S7700 with software V200R001C00SPC300, V200R002C00SPC100, V200R003C00SPC300; S9300 with software V200R001C00SPC300, V200R002C00SPC100, V200R003C00SPC300; S9700 with software V200R001C00SPC300, V200R002C00SPC100, V200R003C00SPC300 allow unauthorized users to upgrade the bootrom or bootload software, bypass a Menu protection mechanism, conduct a Menu compromise attack, or bypass a Menu/upgrade protection mechanism.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/24/2022
This vulnerability affects Huawei networking equipment including S7700, S9300, and S9700 series switches running specific software versions. The flaw resides in the bootrom and bootloader software implementation which fails to properly enforce access controls and authentication mechanisms. Unauthorized users can exploit this weakness to perform critical system modifications without proper authorization, effectively bypassing the intended security protections that should prevent unauthorized firmware upgrades or system modifications.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from inadequate privilege enforcement within the device boot process. The system's menu protection mechanisms are designed to prevent unauthorized access to critical system functions including firmware upgrades and bootloader modifications. However, the vulnerability allows attackers to circumvent these protections through insufficient input validation or authentication checks during the boot process. This creates a persistent backdoor that can be exploited across multiple device models and software versions, indicating a fundamental flaw in the security architecture rather than a simple configuration issue.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe as it provides attackers with persistent access to critical network infrastructure. Once exploited, unauthorized users can modify the bootrom or bootloader software, potentially enabling them to install malicious firmware or maintain long-term access to the network equipment. This capability allows for Menu compromise attacks where the device's boot menu can be modified to bypass security controls or redirect system operations. The vulnerability affects multiple generations of Huawei switches, suggesting a widespread security flaw in the vendor's firmware implementation that could compromise entire network segments.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including network segmentation to isolate affected devices, disabling unnecessary network services, and monitoring for unauthorized access attempts. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-284 (Improper Access Control) and represents a critical weakness in the principle of least privilege enforcement. From an attack perspective, this vulnerability maps to ATT&CK technique T1068 (Exploitation for Privilege Escalation) and T1542 (Pre-OS Boot) as it allows for unauthorized system modification at the bootloader level. Device administrators should also consider implementing network access control lists and regular firmware integrity checks to detect potential exploitation attempts. The affected software versions should be updated to patched releases as soon as possible to remediate the underlying access control flaws that enable this unauthorized system modification capability.