CVE-2016-3675 in Policy Center
Summary
by MITRE
SQL injection vulnerability in Huawei Policy Center with software before V100R003C10SPC020 allows remote authenticated users to execute arbitrary SQL commands via unspecified vectors related to system databases.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/13/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-3675 represents a critical SQL injection flaw within Huawei Policy Center software versions prior to V100R003C10SPC020. This security weakness resides in the system's handling of database queries and allows remote authenticated attackers to manipulate database operations through unspecified vectors that target system databases. The vulnerability specifically affects Huawei's Policy Center platform, which is designed for network policy management and control, making it a significant concern for enterprise network security infrastructure.
The technical nature of this flaw stems from inadequate input validation and improper sanitization of user-supplied data within the database interaction layers of the Policy Center software. When authenticated users submit data to the system, the application fails to properly escape or filter special characters that could be interpreted as SQL command delimiters or operators. This allows attackers to inject malicious SQL code that gets executed within the database context, potentially enabling full database access, data manipulation, or even system compromise. The vulnerability's classification aligns with CWE-89, which specifically addresses SQL injection flaws where untrusted data is incorporated into SQL commands without proper sanitization.
From an operational standpoint, this vulnerability poses severe risks to organizations relying on Huawei Policy Center for network management and policy enforcement. Remote authenticated attackers who can establish valid credentials within the system can leverage this flaw to execute arbitrary database commands, potentially leading to unauthorized data access, modification, or deletion. The impact extends beyond simple data compromise as attackers could potentially escalate privileges, access sensitive network configurations, or disrupt policy enforcement mechanisms that are critical for network security. Given that Policy Center systems typically manage core network policies and access controls, successful exploitation could result in widespread network compromise and unauthorized access to protected resources.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigation strategies including upgrading to Huawei software version V100R003C10SPC020 or later, which contains the necessary patches to address this vulnerability. Network segmentation and access controls should be reinforced to limit the attack surface, while monitoring systems should be enhanced to detect anomalous database query patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of following security best practices such as implementing proper input validation, using parameterized queries, and conducting regular security assessments of network management systems. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing database activity monitoring solutions that can detect and alert on suspicious SQL injection attempts, aligning with ATT&CK technique T1071.004 for application layer protocol tunneling and T1046 for network service scanning that might precede such attacks. Regular vulnerability assessments and penetration testing of network management infrastructure should be conducted to identify and remediate similar weaknesses in other critical systems.