CVE-2016-1404 in UCS Invicta
Summary
by MITRE
Cisco UCS Invicta 4.3, 4.5, and 5.0.1 on Invicta appliances and Invicta Scaling System uses the same hardcoded GnuPG encryption key across different customers' installations, which allows remote attackers to defeat cryptographic protection mechanisms by sniffing network traffic to an Autosupport server and leveraging knowledge of this key from another installation, aka Bug ID CSCur85504.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/22/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-1404 represents a critical cryptographic weakness in Cisco UCS Invicta storage appliances running versions 4.3, 4.5, and 5.0.1. This flaw specifically affects the Autosupport functionality that enables remote monitoring and support capabilities for these enterprise storage systems. The vulnerability stems from the implementation of GnuPG encryption mechanisms where Cisco deployed a single, hardcoded encryption key across all customer installations rather than generating unique keys per deployment. This design decision fundamentally undermines the cryptographic security model intended to protect sensitive data transmitted between storage appliances and support servers.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through network traffic interception and analysis techniques that fall under the purview of network reconnaissance and passive attack methodologies. Attackers can capture Autosupport network traffic destined for Cisco support servers and extract the hardcoded GnuPG key from the encrypted communications. Once obtained, this key can be used to decrypt communications from other customers' installations, effectively breaking the cryptographic protection mechanisms that should isolate each customer's data and configuration information. The vulnerability directly maps to CWE-327, which addresses the use of broken or weak cryptographic algorithms, and CWE-310, concerning cryptographic issues that can be exploited through key reuse or exposure. This weakness enables attackers to perform man-in-the-middle attacks against the Autosupport communication channels, potentially accessing sensitive configuration data, system diagnostics, and other proprietary information from multiple customer environments simultaneously.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data confidentiality breaches to encompass broader security implications for enterprise storage infrastructure. Organizations utilizing Cisco UCS Invicta appliances face the risk of unauthorized access to their storage system configurations, performance metrics, and potentially sensitive business data that flows through the Autosupport channels. The vulnerability particularly affects organizations that rely heavily on remote support capabilities and automated diagnostics, as these features become inherently compromised. The attack surface expands significantly since a single compromised key can potentially expose data from numerous customer installations, making this a particularly dangerous vulnerability for vendors and service providers who maintain multiple customer environments. This weakness also creates opportunities for attackers to conduct reconnaissance activities against other customers' systems, potentially identifying system configurations, vulnerabilities, and operational patterns that could be leveraged in subsequent attacks. The vulnerability demonstrates a fundamental failure in key management practices and violates security best practices for cryptographic implementation as outlined in various cybersecurity frameworks including NIST SP 800-57 and ISO/IEC 15408.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2016-1404 require immediate attention from affected organizations and should include multiple layers of defensive measures. Cisco has released patches and firmware updates to address this vulnerability, which organizations must deploy immediately to regenerate unique encryption keys for each installation. Network administrators should implement additional monitoring and anomaly detection mechanisms to identify unusual Autosupport traffic patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. Organizations should also consider disabling or restricting Autosupport functionality until proper cryptographic key regeneration has been completed and verified. The vulnerability highlights the importance of proper key lifecycle management and the necessity of implementing unique cryptographic keys for each deployment environment. Security teams should conduct comprehensive assessments of their storage infrastructure to identify any other systems that might be using hardcoded or shared cryptographic keys, as this represents a broader class of vulnerabilities that can lead to similar security compromises. Regular security audits and penetration testing should be performed to identify and remediate similar cryptographic weaknesses in other enterprise systems, particularly those that rely on automated communication channels with external support or monitoring services.