CVE-2015-0716 in Unity Connection
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the CUCReports page in Cisco Unity Connection 11.0(0.98000.225) and 11.0(0.98000.332) allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of arbitrary users, aka Bug ID CSCut33659.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/10/2022
The CVE-2015-0716 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw discovered in Cisco Unity Connection versions 11.0(0.98000.225) and 11.0(0.98000.332). This vulnerability resides within the CUCReports page functionality of the Cisco Unity Connection unified communications platform, which serves as a critical component for managing voice messaging and collaboration services. The flaw allows remote attackers to exploit the absence of proper CSRF protection mechanisms, enabling them to execute unauthorized actions on behalf of authenticated users without their knowledge or consent.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from the absence of anti-CSRF tokens or similar protective measures within the CUCReports page functionality. When a legitimate user accesses the reports page, the application fails to validate that requests originate from the intended user interface rather than from malicious third-party sites. This omission creates a fundamental security gap that aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery vulnerabilities. Attackers can craft malicious web pages or exploit existing web content that, when visited by an authenticated user, automatically submits requests to the vulnerable Cisco Unity Connection instance, effectively hijacking the user's authenticated session.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple privilege escalation, as it enables attackers to perform arbitrary actions within the context of the authenticated user's privileges. This includes but is not limited to modifying user configurations, accessing sensitive voice messaging data, creating new user accounts, or executing administrative functions. The vulnerability particularly affects organizations relying on Cisco Unity Connection for enterprise communications, where unauthorized access to voice messaging systems could result in significant data breaches, privacy violations, and disruption of business continuity. The attack vector requires minimal user interaction, as the malicious request can be triggered automatically when the victim visits a compromised webpage, making it particularly dangerous in phishing campaigns or compromised websites.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including applying the relevant Cisco security patches and updates released to address this vulnerability. Network segmentation and monitoring of the affected systems can help detect unauthorized access attempts. The vulnerability also aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566, which covers social engineering methods that can be used to deliver CSRF attacks. Administrators should also consider implementing additional security controls such as web application firewalls and ensuring proper session management practices. The remediation process should include thorough testing of patched systems to ensure that the CSRF protection mechanisms are properly implemented and that no regressions have been introduced in the reporting functionality. Organizations should also conduct security awareness training to help users recognize potential social engineering attempts that could exploit this vulnerability.