CVE-2018-0448 in Digital Network Architecture Center
Summary
by MITRE
A vulnerability in the identity management service of Cisco Digital Network Architecture (DNA) Center could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass authentication and take complete control of identity management functions. The vulnerability is due to insufficient security restrictions for critical management functions. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a valid identity management request to the affected system. An exploit could allow the attacker to view and make unauthorized modifications to existing system users as well as create new users.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/30/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-0448 resides within Cisco Digital Network Architecture DNA Center's identity management service, representing a critical security flaw that undermines the system's foundational access control mechanisms. This weakness specifically targets the authentication and authorization processes that govern administrative functions within the network management platform, creating a pathway for malicious actors to bypass legitimate security controls. The vulnerability stems from inadequate security restrictions applied to essential management functions, fundamentally compromising the integrity of the system's user access controls.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through the manipulation of identity management requests that are typically protected by authentication mechanisms. An unauthenticated attacker can craft and send valid requests to the affected system, leveraging the insufficient security controls to gain unauthorized access to critical administrative functions. This flaw operates at the protocol level where the system fails to properly validate the authenticity of requests attempting to modify user accounts or access system resources. The vulnerability's impact extends beyond simple unauthorized access, as it enables complete control over identity management functions, allowing attackers to view existing user configurations and create new accounts with elevated privileges.
Operationally, this vulnerability presents a severe risk to network security infrastructure, as DNA Center serves as a central management platform for enterprise networks. The ability to bypass authentication and modify user accounts creates opportunities for persistent threats to establish footholds within network management systems, potentially leading to broader network compromise. Attackers could use this vulnerability to create backdoor accounts, modify existing user permissions, or gain access to sensitive network configuration data. The remote nature of the exploit means that attackers do not require physical access to the system or knowledge of valid credentials to leverage this weakness, significantly expanding the attack surface and threat vector.
The security implications of CVE-2018-0448 align with CWE-287, which addresses improper authentication vulnerabilities where systems fail to properly verify the identity of users or processes attempting to access protected resources. This weakness directly violates the principle of least privilege and fails to implement proper access controls that should be enforced for critical management functions. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to techniques involving privilege escalation and credential access, specifically targeting the T1078 principle of valid accounts and T1566 for credential harvesting. Organizations utilizing Cisco DNA Center should implement immediate mitigations including network segmentation, firewall rules to restrict access to identity management endpoints, and application-level controls to validate all incoming requests. The vulnerability underscores the critical importance of proper authentication design and the necessity of implementing robust access control mechanisms for all administrative functions within network management platforms.