CVE-2015-0525 in Secure Remote Services
Summary
by MITRE
The Gateway Provisioning service in EMC Secure Remote Services Virtual Edition (ESRS VE) 3.02 and 3.03 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary OS commands via unspecified vectors.
VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/01/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2015-0525 represents a critical remote command execution flaw within the Gateway Provisioning service of EMC Secure Remote Services Virtual Edition version 3.02 and 3.03. This issue resides in the virtualized security infrastructure designed to facilitate secure remote management operations, making it particularly concerning for enterprise environments that rely on such services for network administration and security monitoring. The vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and sanitization mechanisms within the provisioning service, which processes external requests without adequate protection against malicious payload injection.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through unspecified vectors that likely involve crafted requests sent to the Gateway Provisioning service interface. Attackers can leverage this weakness to inject and execute arbitrary operating system commands on the affected system, effectively gaining unauthorized control over the underlying operating environment. This type of vulnerability maps directly to CWE-77 which describes improper neutralization of special elements used in OS commands, and represents a classic command injection attack vector that has been prevalent in security assessments for decades. The attack surface is particularly dangerous because it allows remote exploitation without requiring authentication, making it accessible to any attacker who can reach the service over the network.
From an operational impact perspective, successful exploitation of CVE-2015-0525 provides attackers with complete control over the affected ESRS VE appliance, enabling them to execute malicious commands, escalate privileges, access sensitive data, and potentially use the compromised system as a launch point for further attacks within the network. This vulnerability directly violates the principle of least privilege and undermines the security posture of organizations relying on EMC Secure Remote Services Virtual Edition for remote management. The attack chain typically involves initial reconnaissance to identify the vulnerable service, followed by crafting of malicious payloads that bypass input validation mechanisms and execute commands with the privileges of the service account. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059 which covers command and scripting interpreter, specifically focusing on the execution of malicious commands through compromised services.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including network segmentation to restrict access to the affected service, deployment of network intrusion detection systems to monitor for suspicious command execution patterns, and application of vendor patches once available. The remediation process requires careful consideration of the service dependencies and potential impact on legitimate remote management operations. Security teams should conduct comprehensive network scans to identify all instances of the vulnerable ESRS VE versions and implement proper access controls using firewall rules to limit exposure. Additionally, organizations should perform regular vulnerability assessments to identify similar command injection vulnerabilities in other services and ensure that input validation mechanisms are properly implemented across all network services. The remediation strategy must balance security requirements with operational needs while maintaining the integrity of the remote management infrastructure.