CVE-2015-6323 in Identity Services Engine
Summary
by MITRE
The Admin portal in Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) 1.1.x, 1.2.0 before patch 17, 1.2.1 before patch 8, 1.3 before patch 5, and 1.4 before patch 4 allows remote attackers to obtain administrative access via unspecified vectors, aka Bug ID CSCuw34253.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/03/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2015-6323 affects the Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) platform, specifically targeting the Admin portal component across multiple versions including 1.1.x, 1.2.0 before patch 17, 1.2.1 before patch 8, 1.3 before patch 5, and 1.4 before patch 4. This critical security flaw represents a remote code execution vulnerability that allows unauthorized attackers to gain administrative privileges within the ISE environment. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-284, which deals with improper access control mechanisms, specifically focusing on inadequate authorization controls within the administrative interface. The issue stems from insufficient validation and authentication checks within the admin portal, creating a pathway for remote exploitation that bypasses normal security controls.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves unspecified attack vectors that likely exploit weaknesses in the authentication or authorization mechanisms of the ISE Admin portal. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability to escalate privileges and gain full administrative control over the ISE infrastructure, which serves as a central identity management and network access control platform. The vulnerability's impact extends beyond simple privilege escalation as it allows complete compromise of the identity services engine, potentially enabling attackers to modify network access policies, view sensitive user data, and control access to critical network resources. This aligns with ATT&CK technique T1078 which covers legitimate credentials usage and privilege escalation through administrative access. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it affects the core administrative interface of the ISE platform, which is designed to be the authoritative source for network access control and identity management.
The operational impact of CVE-2015-6323 is severe and multifaceted, as it provides attackers with complete administrative control over the affected ISE deployments. Organizations relying on ISE for network access control, identity management, and security policy enforcement face significant risk of network compromise, data breaches, and unauthorized access to critical infrastructure. The vulnerability essentially removes the administrative boundary protection, allowing remote attackers to manipulate the entire identity services engine configuration. This includes the ability to modify user access policies, create new administrative accounts, and potentially gain access to other systems that depend on ISE for authentication and authorization. The attack surface is particularly wide since the vulnerability affects multiple versions of the platform, requiring organizations to assess their entire ISE deployment landscape to determine affected systems. Organizations may also face regulatory compliance issues if sensitive data is accessed or modified through this vulnerability, as it represents a significant failure in the security controls designed to protect identity services infrastructure. The vulnerability's remote exploitability means that attackers do not need physical access to the network or direct network connectivity to the ISE platform, making it particularly dangerous in environments where network segmentation is not properly implemented.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2015-6323 primarily involve applying the appropriate security patches released by Cisco to address the specific vulnerability. Organizations should immediately upgrade their ISE deployments to versions that include the patches for the affected versions, specifically targeting the patch levels mentioned in the vulnerability description. Network segmentation should be implemented to limit access to the ISE Admin portal to only authorized administrative users and systems, effectively reducing the attack surface. Access controls should be strengthened through implementation of multi-factor authentication for administrative access, network access control lists, and firewall rules that restrict access to the ISE administrative interfaces. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning should be conducted to identify any remaining exposure or misconfigurations that might provide additional attack vectors. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of maintaining current security patches and implementing proper change management processes to ensure that security updates are applied promptly across all network infrastructure components. Organizations should also implement monitoring and logging controls specifically designed to detect unauthorized administrative access attempts or unusual administrative activities within the ISE environment, which can help identify exploitation attempts and provide forensic evidence for incident response activities.