CVE-2016-1431 in FirePOWER Management Center
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Cisco Firepower Management Center 4.10.3, 5.2.0, 5.3.0, 5.3.1, and 5.4.0 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via a crafted URL, aka Bug ID CSCur25516.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/26/2024
The vulnerability described in CVE-2016-1431 represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw within Cisco Firepower Management Center software versions 4.10.3, 5.2.0, 5.3.0, 5.3.1, and 5.4.0. This issue falls under the Common Weakness Enumeration category CWE-79, which specifically addresses improper neutralization of input during web page generation, making it a classic XSS vulnerability. The flaw enables remote attackers to execute malicious scripts in the context of a victim's browser session, potentially compromising the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of sensitive network management data.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability occurs through the improper handling of user-supplied input within the web interface of the Firepower Management Center. Attackers can craft malicious URLs containing embedded script code that gets executed when legitimate users navigate to these specially crafted links. The vulnerability exploits the lack of proper input validation and output encoding mechanisms in the web application layer, allowing malicious payloads to be stored or reflected in web pages served by the management interface. This particular weakness manifests when the application fails to sanitize URL parameters before rendering them in web responses, creating an attack surface where arbitrary HTML and JavaScript code can be injected and executed.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant for organizations relying on Cisco Firepower Management Center for network security operations. Remote attackers who successfully exploit this vulnerability can potentially steal session cookies, perform unauthorized administrative actions, redirect users to malicious sites, or extract sensitive configuration data from the management interface. The attack vector requires no authentication for exploitation, making it particularly dangerous as it can be leveraged by threat actors without prior access credentials. This vulnerability essentially provides a backdoor for attackers to compromise the management plane of network security infrastructure, potentially leading to complete network compromise and unauthorized access to protected network resources.
Organizations should immediately implement mitigations including applying the latest security patches released by Cisco, which address the input validation issues in the web interface components. Network segmentation and access controls should be enhanced to limit exposure of the management interface to trusted networks only. Implementing Content Security Policies and input validation measures at the application level can provide additional defense-in-depth. Security monitoring should be enhanced to detect suspicious URL patterns and unusual traffic behavior related to the management interface. The vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for command and scripting interpreter and T1566.001 for spearphishing attachment, representing a critical threat vector that requires immediate attention and remediation to prevent potential exploitation by advanced persistent threat actors targeting network infrastructure management systems.