CVE-2018-0371 in Meeting Server
Summary
by MITRE
A vulnerability in the Web Admin Interface of Cisco Meeting Server could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition. The vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of incoming HTTP requests. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted HTTP request to the Web Admin Interface of an affected Cisco Meeting Server. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to restart the system, terminating all ongoing calls and resulting in a DoS condition on the affected product. This vulnerability affects the following releases of Cisco Meeting Server: Acano X-Series, Cisco Meeting Server 1000, Cisco Meeting Server 2000. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCvi48624.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/28/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-0371 represents a critical weakness in the Web Admin Interface of Cisco Meeting Server products, specifically affecting Acano X-Series and Cisco Meeting Server 1000 and 2000 models. This issue stems from inadequate input validation mechanisms within the HTTP request processing pipeline, creating an exploitable entry point for authenticated remote attackers who can leverage this flaw to disrupt service availability. The vulnerability was documented under Cisco Bug ID CSCvi48624 and demonstrates a fundamental flaw in the security architecture of enterprise communication systems that handle sensitive business operations.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through the manipulation of HTTP requests sent to the Web Admin Interface, where insufficient validation allows maliciously crafted requests to bypass normal security checks. When an authenticated attacker successfully crafts and submits these malformed requests, the system's failure to properly validate incoming data leads to a system restart condition that terminates all active calls and services. This behavior constitutes a classic denial of service attack vector that can be executed remotely by an authenticated user, making it particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where communication systems are critical infrastructure components.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability creates severe business disruption risks for organizations relying on Cisco Meeting Server for their collaborative communication needs. The DoS condition resulting from exploitation effectively renders the entire system unavailable for legitimate users, causing immediate termination of ongoing conferences and meetings. This disruption can cascade across enterprise networks, affecting productivity and potentially resulting in financial losses due to extended service outages. The vulnerability affects multiple product lines within the Cisco Meeting Server portfolio, amplifying its potential impact across various deployment scenarios and organizational sizes.
The underlying security weakness aligns with CWE-20, which describes "Improper Input Validation" as a fundamental software security flaw that allows attackers to manipulate system behavior through malformed inputs. This vulnerability also maps to ATT&CK technique T1499.004, which covers "Endpoint Denial of Service" through the manipulation of system resources. Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including applying Cisco's security patches, implementing network segmentation to restrict access to the Web Admin Interface, and establishing robust monitoring for unusual HTTP request patterns. Additionally, access controls should be strengthened through multi-factor authentication and privilege separation to limit the attack surface and reduce the likelihood of successful exploitation.