CVE-2016-1458 in FirePOWER Management Center
Summary
by MITRE
The web-based GUI in Cisco Firepower Management Center 4.x and 5.x before 5.3.0.3, 5.3.1.x before 5.3.1.2, and 5.4.x before 5.4.0.1 and Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software on 5500-X devices with FirePOWER Services 4.x and 5.x before 5.3.0.3, 5.3.1.x before 5.3.1.2, and 5.4.x before 5.4.0.1 allows remote authenticated users to increase user-account privileges via crafted HTTP requests, aka Bug ID CSCur25483.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/26/2024
The vulnerability described in CVE-2016-1458 represents a critical privilege escalation flaw affecting Cisco's Firepower Management Center and Adaptive Security Appliance platforms. This issue resides within the web-based graphical user interface component that manages security policies and configurations for network protection systems. The vulnerability specifically targets versions of the software where the authentication and authorization mechanisms fail to properly validate user requests, creating an opportunity for malicious actors to manipulate their access rights. The affected software versions include multiple release streams across the 4.x, 5.3.0.x, 5.3.1.x, and 5.4.x branches, indicating a widespread impact across the product lifecycle. This flaw enables attackers to elevate their privileges from standard user accounts to administrative levels through carefully crafted HTTP requests that exploit weaknesses in the access control implementation.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from improper input validation and authorization checks within the web interface's request processing logic. When authenticated users submit HTTP requests to the management interface, the system fails to adequately verify the legitimacy of privilege escalation attempts. This allows malicious actors to manipulate request parameters to gain elevated access rights without proper authorization. The vulnerability specifically affects the Firepower Management Center versions 4.x and 5.x prior to 5.3.0.3, 5.3.1.2, and 5.4.0.1, as well as the ASA 5500-X devices running FirePOWER Services with similar version constraints. The flaw operates at the application layer where HTTP requests are processed, making it particularly dangerous as it requires only network access and valid login credentials to exploit. This represents a classic case of insufficient authorization validation where the system assumes legitimate users cannot attempt privilege escalation through modified requests.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple privilege escalation to potentially compromise entire network security infrastructures. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability can gain full administrative control over the affected firewalls and management systems, enabling them to modify security policies, create backdoors, monitor network traffic, and disable security features. The implications are particularly severe for organizations relying on Cisco Firepower solutions for network protection, as the attacker could essentially bypass all security controls and gain complete access to network monitoring and control capabilities. This vulnerability could facilitate lateral movement within networks, data exfiltration, and the establishment of persistent access points that would remain undetected by normal security monitoring. The impact is compounded by the fact that the vulnerability affects both management centers and the devices themselves, potentially allowing attackers to compromise the entire security infrastructure.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including applying the relevant security patches released by Cisco to address this privilege escalation vulnerability. The affected versions require updating to patched releases including 5.3.0.3, 5.3.1.2, and 5.4.0.1 for the Firepower Management Center, and corresponding versions for the ASA 5500-X devices with FirePOWER Services. Network segmentation and access control measures should be strengthened to limit the impact of potential exploitation, including implementing least privilege principles for user accounts and monitoring for unusual privilege escalation attempts. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-284 which addresses insufficient access control and represents a significant concern under the ATT&CK framework's privilege escalation techniques. Security monitoring should be enhanced to detect anomalous HTTP request patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts, and regular vulnerability assessments should be conducted to identify similar issues in other network security components. Additionally, organizations should review their access control policies and implement multi-factor authentication for administrative accounts to reduce the risk of successful exploitation.