CVE-2018-5485 in OnCommand Unified Manager
Summary
by MITRE
NetApp OnCommand Unified Manager for Windows versions 7.2 through 7.3 are susceptible to a vulnerability which could lead to a privilege escalation attack.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/08/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-5485 affects NetApp OnCommand Unified Manager for Windows versions 7.2 through 7.3, representing a critical security flaw that enables unauthorized privilege escalation attacks. This issue stems from inadequate access control mechanisms within the software's authentication and authorization framework, allowing malicious actors to elevate their privileges from standard user levels to administrative rights. The vulnerability specifically impacts the Windows-based implementation of NetApp's storage management solution, which is widely deployed in enterprise environments for monitoring and managing NetApp storage systems. Organizations relying on these versions face significant risk as attackers can exploit this weakness to gain unauthorized administrative access to their storage infrastructure, potentially leading to data compromise, system disruption, or lateral movement within network environments.
The technical flaw manifests through improper privilege validation processes that fail to adequately verify user permissions before granting elevated access rights. This weakness creates a pathway for authenticated users to perform operations that should require administrative privileges, effectively bypassing the intended security boundaries. The vulnerability operates at the application level within the Windows service architecture, where insufficient input validation and access control checks allow privilege escalation through crafted requests or manipulated session states. Attackers can leverage this flaw to execute commands with elevated privileges, access restricted system resources, and potentially gain control over the underlying storage infrastructure managed by the OnCommand Unified Manager. The issue is particularly concerning as it affects a widely used storage management platform that typically requires administrative access for legitimate operations, making the privilege escalation particularly dangerous for enterprise storage environments.
The operational impact of CVE-2018-5485 extends beyond immediate security compromise to encompass potential business disruption and data integrity threats. Organizations utilizing affected NetApp versions may experience unauthorized access to critical storage systems, leading to potential data exfiltration, system corruption, or service interruption. The vulnerability's exploitation could enable attackers to modify storage configurations, access sensitive data stored on managed systems, or establish persistent access points within the network infrastructure. Given that OnCommand Unified Manager serves as a central management interface for storage operations, the privilege escalation could facilitate broader attacks targeting the underlying storage arrays and connected systems. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-276, which addresses improper privilege management, and represents a classic example of insufficient access control that violates fundamental security principles outlined in the NIST Cybersecurity Framework.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate patching of affected NetApp OnCommand Unified Manager installations to versions that address the privilege escalation flaw. Organizations should implement network segmentation to limit access to management interfaces, enforce strict access controls, and monitor for suspicious authentication patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts. Security teams should conduct comprehensive vulnerability assessments to identify all affected systems and establish monitoring procedures for detecting unauthorized privilege escalation activities. The remediation process should include disabling unnecessary administrative accounts, implementing multi-factor authentication for management interfaces, and establishing regular security audits of access control configurations. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing network-based intrusion detection systems to monitor for exploitation attempts and maintain detailed logging of administrative activities to facilitate forensic analysis should compromise occur. These measures align with ATT&CK framework techniques targeting privilege escalation and credential access, ensuring comprehensive defense against exploitation of this vulnerability.