CVE-2016-9097 in ProxySG
Summary
by MITRE
The Symantec Advanced Secure Gateway (ASG) 6.6 prior to 6.6.5.8, ProxySG 6.5 prior 6.5.10.6, ProxySG 6.6 prior to 6.6.5.8, and ProxySG 6.7 prior to 6.7.1.2 management consoles do not, under certain circumstances, correctly authorize administrator users. A malicious administrator with read-only access can exploit this vulnerability to access management console functionality that requires read-write access privileges.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/21/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-9097 affects Symantec's Advanced Secure Gateway and ProxySG management consoles across multiple versions including ASG 6.6 before 6.6.5.8, ProxySG 6.5 before 6.5.10.6, ProxySG 6.6 before 6.6.5.8, and ProxySG 6.7 before 6.7.1.2. This represents a critical authorization flaw that undermines the principle of least privilege within enterprise security infrastructure. The vulnerability stems from improper access control mechanisms that fail to correctly validate administrative privileges during management console operations, creating a pathway for privilege escalation attacks.
The technical flaw manifests as a failure in the authorization subsystem where the management console does not adequately enforce role-based access controls for administrator users. Specifically, when certain administrative functions are accessed through the console interface, the system does not properly verify whether the requesting user possesses the required read-write privileges. This authorization bypass occurs under specific operational circumstances that are not well-documented but likely involve particular sequences of console interactions or API calls. The vulnerability falls under CWE-285 which addresses improper authorization issues, specifically within authentication and access control mechanisms.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability creates a significant security risk for organizations relying on Symantec's security appliances. A malicious administrator with only read-only access can exploit this flaw to execute administrative functions that should be restricted to users with higher privileges. This scenario represents a classic privilege escalation attack vector where internal threat actors can gain unauthorized access to critical management functions such as configuration changes, policy modifications, user account management, and system monitoring capabilities. The attack requires minimal external resources and can be executed by someone already within the organization's administrative domain, making it particularly dangerous.
The vulnerability aligns with several ATT&CK techniques including privilege escalation through access token manipulation and abuse of administrative privileges. Organizations using affected Symantec appliances face potential exposure to both insider threats and compromised administrative accounts that could be leveraged to modify security policies, disable monitoring systems, or establish persistence mechanisms within their network infrastructure. The impact extends beyond immediate privilege escalation as it undermines the integrity of the entire security management framework, potentially allowing attackers to bypass other security controls that depend on proper administrative access enforcement.
Mitigation strategies should focus on immediate patch deployment to the affected versions, with organizations prioritizing updates to the latest available releases. Network segmentation and monitoring of administrative console access should be implemented to detect unauthorized access attempts. Additionally, organizations should conduct comprehensive access reviews to ensure that administrative privileges are properly assigned and monitored. Regular security assessments of management interfaces and enforcement of principle of least privilege should be implemented to prevent similar authorization failures. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of proper access control implementation in security infrastructure components and highlights the need for regular security testing of administrative interfaces to prevent unauthorized privilege escalation attacks.