CVE-2017-3831 in Mobility Express 1800
Summary
by MITRE
A vulnerability in the web-based GUI of Cisco Mobility Express 1800 Series Access Points could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass authentication. The attacker could be granted full administrator privileges. The vulnerability is due to improper implementation of authentication for accessing certain web pages using the GUI interface. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted HTTP request to the web interface of the affected system. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to bypass authentication and perform unauthorized configuration changes or issue control commands to the affected device. This vulnerability affects Cisco Mobility Express 1800 Series Access Points running a software version prior to 8.2.110.0. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCuy68219.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/08/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-3831 represents a critical authentication bypass flaw within the web-based graphical user interface of Cisco Mobility Express 1800 Series Access Points. This security weakness stems from inadequate implementation of authentication mechanisms that protect administrative access to sensitive configuration pages. The flaw allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to escalate privileges and gain full administrative control over affected devices without requiring valid credentials. The vulnerability specifically impacts systems running software versions prior to 8.2.110.0, making legacy deployments particularly susceptible to exploitation.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through the manipulation of HTTP requests sent to the affected device's web interface. Attackers can craft specific HTTP requests that bypass the normal authentication process, effectively granting them administrative privileges without proper authorization. This authentication bypass enables attackers to perform unauthorized configuration changes, execute control commands, and manipulate the device's operational parameters. The flaw demonstrates a classic security implementation error where the web application fails to properly validate session tokens or authentication states, allowing unauthorized access to protected administrative functions.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and far-reaching within enterprise network environments. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability can gain complete control over the affected access points, potentially leading to network disruption, data interception, or unauthorized access to connected network segments. The ability to perform unauthorized configuration changes means attackers can modify network settings, disable security features, or reconfigure the access points to serve malicious purposes. This vulnerability directly violates fundamental security principles and can result in significant business disruption, compliance violations, and potential data breaches. Organizations relying on Cisco Mobility Express solutions face substantial risk if affected devices remain unpatched.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability primarily focus on immediate software updates and ongoing security monitoring. Cisco has released software version 8.2.110.0 that addresses this specific authentication bypass issue, making patch management the primary defense mechanism. Organizations should prioritize updating all affected devices to the patched software version and conduct thorough inventory checks to identify all vulnerable systems. Network segmentation and access control measures can provide additional layers of protection by limiting direct network access to these devices. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-287, which addresses improper authentication issues, and maps to ATT&CK technique T1078 for valid accounts and T1068 for local privilege escalation. Regular security audits and vulnerability assessments should be implemented to identify similar authentication weaknesses in other network infrastructure components and ensure comprehensive protection against similar threats.