CVE-2016-1416 in Prime Collaboration Provisioning
Summary
by MITRE
Cisco Prime Collaboration Provisioning 10.6 SP2 (aka 10.6.0.10602) mishandles LDAP authentication, which allows remote attackers to obtain administrator privileges via a crafted login attempt, aka Bug ID CSCuv37513.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/26/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-1416 affects Cisco Prime Collaboration Provisioning version 10.6 SP2, representing a critical authentication flaw that undermines the system's security posture. This issue stems from improper handling of Lightweight Directory Access Protocol authentication mechanisms within the provisioning application, creating a pathway for malicious actors to escalate privileges without legitimate credentials. The vulnerability specifically manifests during the login process when the system fails to properly validate authentication requests, allowing crafted inputs to bypass normal access controls and gain administrative access to the platform.
The technical implementation flaw resides in the application's LDAP authentication processing logic where insufficient input validation and sanitization permits specially crafted authentication attempts to manipulate the system's access control mechanisms. This weakness enables attackers to exploit the authentication flow by submitting malformed or specially constructed LDAP bind requests that the system processes without adequate verification. The vulnerability operates at the application layer and requires no prior authentication credentials to exploit, making it particularly dangerous as it can be leveraged by remote attackers from outside the network perimeter.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents a severe risk to organizations relying on Cisco Prime Collaboration Provisioning for their unified communications infrastructure management. Successful exploitation allows attackers to assume administrator privileges, providing complete control over the provisioning system and potentially enabling lateral movement within the network. The impact extends beyond the immediate application as administrators can manipulate user accounts, modify system configurations, and access sensitive communication data managed by the platform. This vulnerability directly violates the principle of least privilege and undermines the integrity of the authentication system.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including applying the vendor-provided security patches, disabling unnecessary LDAP authentication features when not required, and implementing network segmentation to limit access to the affected system. Security monitoring should be enhanced to detect unusual authentication patterns and login attempts that may indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-287 which addresses improper authentication issues, and maps to ATT&CK technique T1078 for valid accounts and privilege escalation. Additionally, organizations should conduct thorough security assessments of their Cisco Prime installations and review access controls to ensure that only authorized personnel maintain administrative privileges.
The broader implications of this vulnerability highlight the importance of robust authentication validation in enterprise collaboration platforms where system administrators possess extensive privileges. Organizations must maintain vigilant patch management processes and ensure that security updates are applied promptly to protect against known vulnerabilities. The incident underscores the critical need for proper input validation and authentication handling in web applications, particularly those managing sensitive network infrastructure components. Regular security audits and penetration testing should be conducted to identify and remediate similar weaknesses in other enterprise systems that may present similar attack vectors.