CVE-2016-6427 in Unified Intelligence Center
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Cisco Unified Intelligence Center (CUIC) 8.5.4 through 9.1(1), as used in Unified Contact Center Express 10.0(1) through 11.0(1), allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of arbitrary users, aka Bug IDs CSCuy75036 and CSCuy81654.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/22/2022
The CVE-2016-6427 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw discovered in Cisco Unified Intelligence Center software versions 8.5.4 through 9.1(1) and specifically affecting Unified Contact Center Express implementations from version 10.0(1) through 11.0(1). This vulnerability resides within the authentication mechanisms of Cisco's contact center analytics platform, creating a significant security risk for organizations relying on these systems for customer service operations and workforce management. The flaw allows remote attackers to exploit the system's lack of proper anti-CSRF protections, enabling them to execute unauthorized actions on behalf of authenticated users without their knowledge or consent.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from the absence of anti-CSRF tokens or similar protective measures within the CUIC web interface. When users authenticate to the system, their sessions become vulnerable to manipulation through crafted malicious requests that can be delivered via social engineering techniques or compromised web pages. Attackers can construct specially formatted requests that leverage the victim's existing authenticated session to perform actions such as modifying user permissions, creating new administrative accounts, or accessing sensitive customer data. This particular vulnerability affects the core authentication flow where the system fails to validate that requests originate from legitimate sources within the same origin, creating a fundamental weakness in the security architecture. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery issues in web applications, making it a well-documented and commonly exploited class of vulnerability in enterprise systems.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data theft or unauthorized access, as it fundamentally compromises the integrity of user sessions within the contact center environment. Organizations using affected Cisco systems face potential exposure of sensitive customer information, unauthorized modifications to contact center configurations, and possible elevation of privileges to administrative levels. The attack vector is particularly dangerous because it requires no special privileges or credentials from the attacker beyond the ability to deliver a malicious payload to a victim who is authenticated to the system. This makes the vulnerability highly exploitable in environments where users frequently access contact center systems from corporate networks or public Wi-Fi connections. The vulnerability's presence in multiple versions of the software creates widespread exposure across organizations that may not have implemented timely patching procedures, potentially leaving extended periods of risk. The impact is further compounded by the fact that contact center systems typically contain highly sensitive customer data including personal identification information, financial details, and proprietary business communications, making the potential damage from exploitation substantial.
Organizations should implement multiple layers of defense to mitigate the risk associated with this vulnerability. Immediate remediation efforts should focus on applying the official Cisco security patches released to address the CSRF implementation gaps in CUIC and Unified Contact Center Express systems. Network segmentation and access controls should be strengthened to limit exposure of these systems to untrusted networks, while implementing additional authentication mechanisms such as multi-factor authentication to provide additional protection layers. Security monitoring should be enhanced to detect unusual patterns of authentication activity or configuration changes that might indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability's classification under the ATT&CK framework as a privilege escalation technique through web application vulnerabilities emphasizes the need for comprehensive web application security testing and regular vulnerability assessments. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls and content security policies to detect and block malicious requests targeting the affected systems. Regular security awareness training for administrators and users can help prevent social engineering attacks that might exploit this vulnerability by encouraging users to verify the legitimacy of requests before interacting with contact center systems. The remediation process should include thorough testing of patched systems to ensure that the CSRF protections are properly implemented without introducing regressions in system functionality.