CVE-2015-0735 in Unified Customer Voice Portal
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Cisco Unified Customer Voice Portal (CVP) 10.5(1) allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of arbitrary users, aka Bug ID CSCut93970.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/01/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2015-0735 represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw within Cisco Unified Customer Voice Portal version 10.5(1). This security weakness resides in the web-based administrative interface of the customer voice portal system, which serves as a central hub for managing voice communication services in enterprise environments. The vulnerability specifically affects the authentication mechanisms that govern user access to the system's administrative functions, creating a pathway for malicious actors to exploit the trust relationship between legitimate users and the web application.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the absence of proper anti-forgery token validation within the web application's request processing logic. When legitimate users authenticate to the Cisco CVP system, their session cookies are automatically included with subsequent requests, but the application fails to verify that requests originate from authorized sources. Attackers can craft malicious web pages or exploit existing user sessions to execute unauthorized administrative actions without possessing valid credentials. This flaw operates under the common weakness classification of CWE-352, which specifically addresses cross-site request forgery vulnerabilities in web applications. The vulnerability enables attackers to perform actions such as creating new user accounts, modifying existing configurations, or accessing sensitive system information.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple unauthorized access, as it allows attackers to completely compromise the administrative integrity of the Cisco CVP system. An attacker who successfully exploits this CSRF vulnerability can hijack user sessions and perform administrative functions that would normally require valid authentication credentials. This includes modifying system settings, accessing confidential customer data, and potentially disrupting voice communication services that organizations rely upon for business operations. The vulnerability affects organizations that deploy Cisco CVP for managing customer service interactions, call center operations, and voice messaging systems, making it particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where such systems handle sensitive customer information and business-critical communications. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to techniques involving credential access and privilege escalation, specifically targeting the web application layer where user sessions are managed.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2015-0735 require immediate implementation of proper anti-forgery token mechanisms within the Cisco CVP web interface. Organizations should ensure that all state-changing requests include unique, unpredictable tokens that are validated server-side before processing any administrative actions. Cisco released security patches and updates to address this vulnerability, and organizations must apply these patches promptly to prevent exploitation. Network segmentation and access controls should be implemented to limit direct exposure of the CVP administration interface to untrusted networks. Additionally, regular security assessments should verify that anti-forgery mechanisms are properly implemented and functioning within the web application. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of implementing proper session management and request validation techniques, aligning with security best practices outlined in frameworks such as NIST SP 800-53 and ISO 27001 for protecting web applications from CSRF attacks. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls and monitoring systems to detect and prevent exploitation attempts targeting this specific vulnerability.