CVE-2015-4304 in Prime Collaboration Assurance
Summary
by MITRE
The web framework in Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance before 10.5.1.53684-1 allows remote authenticated users to bypass intended access restrictions, and create administrative accounts or read data from arbitrary tenant domains, via a crafted URL, aka Bug IDs CSCus62671 and CSCus62652.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/18/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2015-4304 resides within Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance software version 10.5.1.53684-1 and earlier releases, representing a critical authorization bypass flaw that undermines the security model of the web-based management interface. This vulnerability manifests through improper input validation mechanisms within the application's URL handling logic, allowing authenticated users to exploit a design weakness that permits arbitrary access to administrative functions and data from multiple tenant domains. The flaw specifically affects the web framework component of the Prime Collaboration Assurance platform, which is designed to provide centralized management and monitoring capabilities for Cisco collaboration solutions including voice, video, and unified communications systems. The vulnerability enables attackers to manipulate URL parameters to gain unauthorized access to resources they should not be permitted to access, effectively circumventing the intended security boundaries between different tenant domains.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through the manipulation of URL parameters that control access to administrative functions and data within the application's multi-tenant architecture. When an authenticated user crafts a specially designed URL, the application fails to properly validate the request parameters against the user's authorization level and tenant boundaries. This results in a privilege escalation scenario where users can access administrative accounts and read data from arbitrary tenant domains without proper authentication or authorization. The vulnerability specifically impacts the application's access control mechanisms, allowing users to bypass the intended security model that separates different tenant environments. The flaw enables an attacker to perform actions such as creating new administrative accounts, accessing confidential data from other tenant domains, and potentially executing administrative functions that should be restricted to authorized personnel only. This represents a significant breakdown in the principle of least privilege and separation of duties that should be maintained in multi-tenant environments.
The operational impact of CVE-2015-4304 extends beyond simple unauthorized access, as it creates a persistent security risk that can be exploited by both internal and external threat actors who have gained initial access to the system. The vulnerability enables attackers to escalate their privileges within the Prime Collaboration Assurance environment, potentially leading to complete compromise of the collaboration infrastructure. Organizations using affected versions of Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance face significant risks including data exfiltration from multiple tenant domains, unauthorized administrative access to critical communication systems, and potential disruption of business continuity services. The vulnerability affects the integrity and confidentiality of the entire collaboration platform, as it allows attackers to access sensitive information including user credentials, system configurations, and communication data from other tenant environments. This risk is particularly severe in enterprise environments where multiple organizations or business units share the same collaboration infrastructure, as it could enable cross-tenant data leakage and unauthorized administrative control over systems they should not have access to.
Organizations should immediately implement mitigations including updating to Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance version 10.5.1.53684-1 or later, which contains the necessary patches to address the authorization bypass vulnerability. Network segmentation and access controls should be reviewed to limit exposure of the affected system to only authorized personnel. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-285, which describes improper authorization in software systems, and reflects patterns commonly associated with privilege escalation attacks. From an ATT&CK perspective, this vulnerability maps to techniques such as privilege escalation through access token manipulation and credential access via exploitation of software vulnerabilities. Additionally, organizations should conduct thorough security assessments of their collaboration infrastructure to identify any other potential authorization bypass vulnerabilities and implement proper monitoring for suspicious access patterns. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of input validation and proper access control implementation in multi-tenant web applications, emphasizing the need for robust security controls in shared infrastructure environments. Regular security updates and patch management processes should be prioritized to prevent exploitation of similar vulnerabilities in the future.