CVE-2016-1000216 in Wireless H500
Summary
by MITRE
Ruckus Wireless H500 web management interface authenticated command injection
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/24/2019
The vulnerability CVE-2016-1000216 represents a critical authenticated command injection flaw in the Ruckus Wireless H500 web management interface. This device operates as a wireless access point and network management system that provides administrators with web-based control over wireless network configurations. The vulnerability specifically affects the authentication mechanism and command processing within the web interface, creating a path for malicious actors who have gained valid credentials to execute arbitrary system commands on the affected device.
The technical flaw manifests through improper input validation and sanitization within the web management interface of the H500 device. When authenticated users submit specific parameters through the web interface, the system fails to properly sanitize these inputs before processing them in system commands. This creates a command injection vulnerability where attacker-controlled input can be interpreted and executed as shell commands by the underlying operating system. The vulnerability is classified as CWE-77 according to the CWE dictionary, which describes improper neutralization of special elements used in a command, and more specifically aligns with CWE-94 which covers improper control of generation of code.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe as it allows authenticated attackers to escalate their privileges and execute arbitrary commands on the network device. This can lead to complete compromise of the wireless access point, potentially enabling attackers to gain unauthorized access to the underlying network, modify wireless configurations, intercept network traffic, or establish persistence within the network infrastructure. The vulnerability affects the device's ability to maintain secure network operations and can result in significant disruption to wireless services and potential data breaches.
Security professionals should implement immediate mitigations including applying the vendor-provided patches and firmware updates that address this command injection vulnerability. Network segmentation should be implemented to limit the scope of potential compromise, and administrative access should be restricted to trusted personnel only. The principle of least privilege should be enforced by ensuring that administrative accounts have the minimum necessary permissions to perform their duties. Additionally, monitoring should be implemented to detect suspicious command execution patterns and unauthorized access attempts to the management interface. This vulnerability aligns with several ATT&CK techniques including T1059 for command and scripting interpreter and T1078 for valid accounts, demonstrating how authenticated access can be leveraged for privilege escalation and system compromise. Organizations should also consider implementing network access controls and firewall rules to restrict access to the device's management interface from only trusted network segments.