CVE-2017-12214 in Unified Customer Voice Portal
Summary
by MITRE
A vulnerability in the Operations, Administration, Maintenance, and Provisioning (OAMP) credential reset functionality for Cisco Unified Customer Voice Portal (CVP) could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to gain elevated privileges. The vulnerability is due to a lack of proper input validation. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by authenticating to the OAMP and sending a crafted HTTP request. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to gain administrator privileges. The attacker must successfully authenticate to the system to exploit this vulnerability. This vulnerability affects Cisco Unified Customer Voice Portal (CVP) running software release 10.5, 11.0, or 11.5. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCve92752.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/13/2021
The vulnerability described in CVE-2017-12214 represents a critical privilege escalation flaw within Cisco Unified Customer Voice Portal's OAMP credential reset functionality. This issue specifically targets the authentication and authorization mechanisms that govern administrative access to the system, creating a pathway for authenticated attackers to elevate their privileges from standard user level to full administrator status. The vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation within the credential reset process, which fails to properly sanitize or verify the legitimacy of user-supplied parameters during authentication operations. The flaw exists in Cisco CVP software versions 10.5, 11.0, and 11.5, making these releases particularly susceptible to exploitation by malicious actors who have already gained initial access credentials.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability requires an attacker to first establish legitimate authentication to the OAMP interface, which serves as the operational management plane for the voice portal system. Once authenticated, the attacker can craft and submit specially formatted HTTP requests designed to manipulate the credential reset functionality in ways that were not anticipated by the system's security controls. This type of vulnerability falls under CWE-20, which specifically addresses improper input validation, and represents a classic example of how inadequate sanitization of user inputs can lead to privilege escalation attacks. The attack vector is particularly concerning because it operates over the network and requires only authenticated access, meaning that an attacker who has already compromised user credentials can leverage this weakness to gain full administrative control over the voice portal infrastructure.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple privilege escalation, as it fundamentally compromises the security posture of the entire Cisco Unified Customer Voice Portal system. When successfully exploited, the vulnerability allows attackers to gain complete administrative control over the voice portal, potentially enabling them to modify system configurations, access sensitive customer data, manipulate call routing, and perform unauthorized system modifications. This represents a severe risk to organizations relying on CVP for customer voice services, as it could lead to complete system compromise and unauthorized access to voice communication infrastructure. The vulnerability also aligns with ATT&CK technique T1068, which covers 'Exploitation for Privilege Escalation,' and demonstrates how internal access can be leveraged to achieve broader system control.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should implement immediate mitigations including applying the relevant Cisco security patches and updates that address the input validation shortcomings in the OAMP credential reset functionality. Network segmentation and access controls should be strengthened to limit exposure of the OAMP interface to only authorized administrative users and systems. Monitoring and logging of credential reset operations should be enhanced to detect anomalous access patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. Additionally, organizations should conduct thorough security assessments of their CVP deployments to identify and remediate similar input validation weaknesses that might exist in other system components. The vulnerability highlights the importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches and implementing robust input validation controls across all system interfaces, particularly those that handle authentication and privilege management functions.