CVE-2017-8982 in Intelligent Management Center
Summary
by MITRE
A Remote Authentication Restriction Bypass vulnerability in HPE Intelligent Management Center (iMC) PLAT version 7.3 E0504P4 was found.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/04/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-8982 represents a critical remote authentication restriction bypass in HPE Intelligent Management Center (iMC) PLAT version 7.3 E0504P4, exposing organizations to significant security risks. This flaw resides within the authentication mechanism of the iMC platform, which serves as a comprehensive network management solution for enterprise environments. The vulnerability allows attackers to circumvent established authentication controls without proper credentials, effectively undermining the security posture of managed networks.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from improper validation of authentication requests within the iMC platform's web interface. Attackers can exploit this weakness by crafting specially formatted requests that bypass the standard authentication flow, potentially gaining access to administrative functions and sensitive network management capabilities. This issue manifests through insufficient input sanitization and inadequate session management controls that fail to properly validate user credentials before granting access to restricted resources. The vulnerability specifically affects the platform's authentication subsystem, where authentication tokens and session identifiers are not properly validated against expected parameters, creating a pathway for unauthorized access.
The operational impact of CVE-2017-8982 extends beyond simple unauthorized access, as it enables attackers to perform privileged operations within the iMC environment. This includes but is not limited to modifying network configurations, accessing sensitive management data, creating or modifying user accounts, and potentially gaining lateral movement capabilities within the network. The implications are particularly severe for organizations relying on iMC for critical network infrastructure management, as successful exploitation could lead to complete compromise of network management functions and potential data breaches. The vulnerability affects the platform's core security controls, making it a high-priority issue for enterprise security teams managing HPE iMC deployments.
Organizations should immediately implement mitigation strategies including applying the vendor-provided security patches, implementing network segmentation to limit access to iMC systems, and strengthening monitoring controls around authentication events. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-287, which addresses improper authentication issues, and maps to ATT&CK technique T1078 for valid accounts and T1566 for social engineering, as attackers may leverage this vulnerability to establish persistent access. Security teams should also conduct thorough network assessments to identify any unauthorized access attempts and implement additional authentication controls such as multi-factor authentication where possible. The remediation process requires careful coordination between network administrators and security teams to ensure complete patch deployment while maintaining operational continuity of critical network management functions.