CVE-2016-7815 in Remote Service Manager
Summary
by MITRE
Remote Service Manager 3.0.0 to 3.1.4 fails to verify client certificates, which may allow remote attackers to gain access to systems on the network.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/21/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-7815 affects Remote Service Manager versions 3.0.0 through 3.1.4, representing a critical authentication flaw that undermines the security of networked systems. This issue stems from insufficient certificate verification mechanisms within the service management framework, creating a pathway for malicious actors to bypass legitimate authentication processes and gain unauthorized network access.
The technical flaw manifests in the application's failure to properly validate client certificates during the authentication handshake process. When remote attackers establish connections to the service manager, the system does not adequately verify the authenticity and validity of presented certificates, allowing forged or compromised certificates to be accepted as legitimate credentials. This weakness directly violates fundamental security principles of mutual authentication and certificate-based identity verification that are essential for protecting network resources.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability creates significant risk for organizations relying on Remote Service Manager for network management tasks. Attackers can exploit this flaw to establish unauthorized sessions with the service manager, potentially gaining administrative access to managed systems, executing malicious commands, and performing unauthorized configuration changes. The vulnerability affects the integrity and confidentiality of network operations, as attackers can manipulate service configurations and potentially escalate privileges within the managed environment.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-295, which addresses improper certificate validation, and demonstrates characteristics consistent with ATT&CK technique T1078.004 related to valid accounts and credential access. Organizations utilizing affected versions face increased exposure to lateral movement attacks and privilege escalation attempts. The lack of proper certificate verification creates a persistent backdoor that can be exploited repeatedly without detection, making it particularly dangerous for enterprise environments where network service management is critical.
Mitigation strategies should prioritize immediate patching of affected Remote Service Manager versions to 3.1.5 or later, which contain the necessary certificate validation improvements. Organizations should also implement additional monitoring for unauthorized authentication attempts and network connections to the service manager. Network segmentation and firewall rules should be enforced to limit access to the service manager to trusted administrative networks only. Security teams should conduct comprehensive vulnerability assessments to identify any potential exploitation attempts and implement certificate management best practices including proper certificate lifecycle management and regular validation of certificate authorities.