CVE-2019-12699 in FXOS
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple vulnerabilities in the CLI of Cisco FXOS Software and Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to execute commands on the underlying operating system (OS) with root privileges. These vulnerabilities are due to insufficient input validation. An attacker could exploit these vulnerabilities by including crafted arguments to specific CLI commands. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute commands on the underlying OS with root privileges.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/29/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-12699 represents a critical security flaw in Cisco's Firepower Threat Defense software ecosystem, specifically within the Fabric Extensible Operating System (FXOS) and FTD software components. This issue affects the command-line interface implementation where insufficient input validation creates opportunities for privilege escalation attacks. The vulnerability exists in the way the system processes user inputs through specific CLI commands, allowing maliciously crafted arguments to bypass normal security controls and execute arbitrary code with the highest possible privileges.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability stems from improper input sanitization mechanisms within the CLI subsystem. When authenticated users submit specially crafted arguments to certain CLI commands, the system fails to properly validate or sanitize these inputs before processing them. This input validation failure creates a path for command injection attacks where attacker-controlled data can be interpreted as executable commands by the underlying operating system. The vulnerability specifically targets the OS-level command execution pathways, enabling attackers to gain root privileges and execute arbitrary code with complete system control.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents a severe risk to network security infrastructure as it allows authenticated local attackers to achieve privilege escalation without requiring external network access or additional attack vectors. The attack requires only local authentication credentials, making it particularly dangerous in environments where administrative access is granted to multiple users. Once exploited, the attacker gains root access to the underlying operating system, enabling complete system compromise including data exfiltration, system modification, and potential lateral movement within the network infrastructure. The impact extends beyond immediate system compromise to include potential disruption of network security services and loss of critical threat detection capabilities.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-77 and CWE-78 categories from the Common Weakness Enumeration taxonomy, specifically addressing command injection weaknesses in input validation. From the MITRE ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to privilege escalation techniques and command execution capabilities, with potential for lateral movement and persistence within the compromised system. Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including applying Cisco's security patches and updates, implementing strict access controls, and monitoring for suspicious CLI activities. Additional defensive measures should include network segmentation, privileged access management, and regular security assessments to identify and remediate similar input validation vulnerabilities across the network infrastructure.