CVE-2017-12253 in Unified Intelligence Center
Summary
by MITRE
A vulnerability in the Cisco Unified Intelligence Center could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to execute unwanted actions. The vulnerability is due to a lack of cross-site request forgery (CSRF) protection. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by tricking the user of a web application into executing an adverse action. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCve76872.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/31/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-12253 affects the Cisco Unified Intelligence Center, a component within Cisco's unified communications infrastructure that provides business intelligence and reporting capabilities. This system serves as a central hub for analyzing call data, user activity, and other operational metrics within enterprise communication networks. The flaw represents a critical security weakness that undermines the integrity of the web-based administrative interface, potentially compromising the entire unified communications ecosystem. The vulnerability resides in the web application layer of the Cisco Unified Intelligence Center, where proper security controls have been omitted to protect against malicious web requests.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability stems from the absence of cross-site request forgery protection mechanisms within the web application framework. Cross-site request forgery occurs when an attacker crafts malicious requests that appear to originate from a legitimate user, exploiting the trust relationship between the web application and the user's browser. Without CSRF tokens or other validation mechanisms, the application cannot distinguish between genuine user requests and forged requests submitted by attackers. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses cross-site request forgery weaknesses in web applications. The lack of proper session validation and request origin verification creates an exploitable condition where an attacker can manipulate the application's behavior through carefully crafted web requests.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data compromise to encompass full system manipulation capabilities. An unauthenticated attacker could potentially execute arbitrary administrative actions without requiring valid credentials, including modifying system configurations, accessing sensitive data, or even deleting critical information. The implications are particularly severe in enterprise environments where the Unified Intelligence Center serves as a critical component for monitoring and managing communication systems. Attackers could leverage this vulnerability to gain unauthorized access to business intelligence data, potentially exposing sensitive operational information, or to disrupt communication services by altering system parameters. This weakness creates a pathway for attackers to escalate privileges and maintain persistent access within the network infrastructure.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate implementation of multiple security controls to protect the affected system. Organizations should deploy web application firewalls that can detect and block CSRF attacks, implement proper CSRF token validation mechanisms, and ensure that all web applications enforce strict session management policies. The recommended approach includes applying the latest security patches provided by Cisco, which address the specific CSRF protection gaps in the Unified Intelligence Center. Additionally, network segmentation should be implemented to limit access to the affected system, and regular security assessments should be conducted to identify similar weaknesses in other components of the unified communications infrastructure. This vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of implementing comprehensive web application security controls and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566, which covers the exploitation of web application vulnerabilities for unauthorized access and privilege escalation.