CVE-2016-9217 in Intercloud Fabric for Business
Summary
by MITRE
A vulnerability in Cisco Intercloud Fabric for Business and Cisco Intercloud Fabric for Providers could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to connect to the database used by these products. More Information: CSCus99394. Known Affected Releases: 7.3(0)ZN(0.99).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/24/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-9217 represents a critical security flaw in Cisco Intercloud Fabric solutions that affects both the business and provider variants of the platform. This weakness stems from inadequate authentication mechanisms within the database access layer of these cloud infrastructure products. The vulnerability specifically impacts version 7.3(0)ZN(0.99) and potentially other releases within the same codebase, creating a significant risk for organizations deploying these solutions in production environments. The affected systems utilize database components that fail to properly validate incoming connection requests, allowing unauthorized access without requiring any credentials or authentication tokens. This fundamental flaw in the security architecture creates an attack surface that can be exploited by any remote attacker with network access to the affected systems, eliminating the need for sophisticated reconnaissance or credential harvesting techniques.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through network-based attacks that target the database communication ports used by the Intercloud Fabric products. The flaw manifests as a failure in the authentication protocol implementation where the system accepts database connection requests without verifying the identity of the connecting entity. This weakness falls under the category of improper authentication as defined by CWE-287, which specifically addresses scenarios where systems fail to properly authenticate users or processes attempting to access protected resources. The vulnerability enables an attacker to establish direct database connections and potentially access sensitive information stored within the system. The lack of proper authentication controls means that database queries can be executed directly against the underlying data stores, creating opportunities for data exfiltration, modification, or complete system compromise. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability to gain unauthorized access to configuration data, user information, and other sensitive operational details that should remain protected within the secured database environment.
The operational impact of CVE-2016-9217 extends beyond simple unauthorized access to encompass broader security implications for cloud infrastructure deployments. Organizations utilizing Cisco Intercloud Fabric solutions face potential data breaches, compliance violations, and operational disruptions when this vulnerability is exploited. The remote nature of the attack means that threat actors can target these systems from anywhere on the internet without requiring physical access or valid credentials, significantly expanding the attack surface. The vulnerability also creates opportunities for lateral movement within network environments where the Intercloud Fabric systems are deployed, as attackers can use the database access to discover additional system information or identify other connected services. This flaw particularly affects cloud service providers who may be offering managed services to customers, as unauthorized access to the database could expose customer data and compromise the integrity of the entire cloud infrastructure. The impact is further amplified by the fact that the vulnerability affects both business and provider variants, suggesting that the flaw exists at a fundamental architectural level rather than being isolated to specific deployment configurations.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations to address this vulnerability including network segmentation to restrict access to database ports, deployment of firewalls to block unauthorized database connections, and implementation of network access controls to limit exposure. The recommended approach involves applying Cisco's security patches and updates as provided in their official advisory, which typically include enhanced authentication mechanisms and proper access control enforcement. Additional protective measures include monitoring network traffic for suspicious database connection attempts, implementing intrusion detection systems to identify exploitation attempts, and conducting comprehensive security assessments of the affected environments. Organizations should also consider implementing database activity monitoring solutions to track unauthorized access attempts and establish incident response procedures specifically tailored to address database compromise scenarios. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper authentication controls in cloud infrastructure solutions and highlights the need for continuous security testing and validation of authentication mechanisms within enterprise systems. This flaw serves as a reminder of the critical nature of database security in cloud environments and the potential consequences of inadequate access controls in infrastructure solutions.