CVE-2017-6689 in Elastic Services Controller
Summary
by MITRE
A vulnerability in the ConfD CLI of Cisco Elastic Services Controllers could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to log in to an affected system as the admin user, aka an Insecure Default Administrator Credentials Vulnerability. More Information: CSCvc76661. Known Affected Releases: 2.2(9.76).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/27/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-6689 represents a critical insecure default administrator credentials issue within the ConfD CLI of Cisco Elastic Services Controllers. This flaw resides in the authentication mechanism of the affected system, specifically targeting the default administrative account that ships with the software. The vulnerability allows an authenticated remote attacker to exploit the system's default credentials to escalate privileges and gain administrative access, effectively bypassing normal security controls that should prevent unauthorized access to critical system functions. This type of vulnerability directly violates security best practices and represents a fundamental flaw in the product's initial security configuration.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from the product's failure to properly secure default administrative accounts during the initial deployment phase. When Cisco Elastic Services Controllers are installed, they typically ship with predefined administrative credentials that are either hardcoded or easily derivable by attackers. The ConfD CLI component, which serves as the command-line interface for system administration, does not adequately enforce strong authentication measures or require explicit credential changes during the initial setup process. This creates a persistent security weakness that remains exploitable throughout the system's operational lifetime, as the default credentials remain unchanged unless explicitly modified by administrators. The vulnerability's classification aligns with CWE-798, which addresses the use of hard-coded credentials, and CWE-259, which covers the use of weak credentials.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends far beyond simple unauthorized access, as it provides attackers with complete administrative control over the affected systems. Once an attacker successfully logs in as the admin user, they can modify system configurations, access sensitive data, install malicious software, and potentially establish persistent backdoors within the network infrastructure. This level of access enables attackers to compromise not only the individual device but also potentially affect other systems within the network that rely on the Elastic Services Controller for service delivery. The remote nature of the attack means that adversaries can exploit this vulnerability from anywhere on the network without requiring physical access to the device, making it particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where such controllers often serve as critical infrastructure components. The vulnerability's impact aligns with ATT&CK technique T1078 which covers legitimate credentials and T1566 which covers credential harvesting.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should implement immediate mitigations including changing default administrative credentials to strong, unique passwords, disabling unused administrative accounts, and implementing network segmentation to limit access to critical systems. Regular security audits should verify that default accounts have been properly secured and that no unauthorized administrative access has occurred. Additionally, administrators should consider implementing multi-factor authentication mechanisms where possible and establish robust monitoring procedures to detect unauthorized login attempts. The vulnerability highlights the importance of proper security configuration management and demonstrates why organizations must ensure that default credentials are changed immediately upon deployment of any network infrastructure device. Cisco has addressed this issue in subsequent releases, making it essential for organizations to upgrade to patched versions of the software to eliminate this exposure and maintain compliance with security standards such as NIST SP 800-53 and ISO 27001 requirements for secure system administration.