CVE-2019-1860 in Unified Intelligence Center
Summary
by MITRE
A vulnerability in the dashboard gadget rendering of Cisco Unified Intelligence Center could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to obtain or manipulate sensitive information between a user’s browser and Cisco Unified Intelligence Center. The vulnerability is due to the lack of gadget validation. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by forcing a user to load a malicious gadget. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to obtain sensitive information, such as current user credentials, or manipulate data between the user’s browser and Cisco Unified Intelligence Center in the context of the malicious gadget.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/21/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-1860 resides within Cisco Unified Intelligence Center's dashboard gadget rendering functionality, representing a critical security weakness that undermines the integrity of user sessions and data protection mechanisms. This flaw specifically targets the absence of proper gadget validation controls that should normally verify the legitimacy and safety of dashboard components before execution within the user's browser environment. The vulnerability affects organizations that rely on Cisco's unified intelligence platform for business analytics and reporting, where dashboard gadgets serve as interactive components that display various data visualizations and operational metrics. The lack of validation creates an attack surface that malicious actors can exploit to compromise user sessions and access sensitive operational data.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and sanitization of gadget components within the web application's dashboard framework. When users interact with the Cisco Unified Intelligence Center interface, the system dynamically loads various gadget modules that execute within the browser context. These gadgets typically contain embedded scripts and data retrieval mechanisms that communicate with the backend intelligence center services. The absence of proper validation allows attackers to inject malicious gadget code that can execute within the user's browser session, bypassing normal security boundaries and authentication mechanisms. This weakness aligns with CWE-20, which addresses improper input validation, and represents a classic example of a cross-site scripting vulnerability that has been leveraged for privilege escalation and data exfiltration.
The operational impact of CVE-2019-1860 extends beyond simple information disclosure to encompass potential data manipulation and session hijacking capabilities that could severely compromise organizational security postures. An attacker exploiting this vulnerability could harvest current user credentials, session tokens, and other sensitive authentication information that would allow them to impersonate legitimate users within the intelligence center environment. The attack vector typically involves social engineering techniques where users are tricked into loading malicious gadgets through phishing emails, compromised websites, or malicious collaboration platforms. Once executed, the malicious gadget can intercept and exfiltrate data transmitted between the user's browser and the Cisco Unified Intelligence Center, potentially exposing confidential business intelligence, customer data, and operational metrics. This vulnerability also aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566, which covers social engineering attacks that manipulate users into executing malicious code.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should implement immediate mitigations including enhanced gadget validation controls, strict content security policies, and comprehensive user education regarding suspicious dashboard components. Cisco recommends applying the latest security patches and updates to address the validation gaps in the dashboard rendering engine. Network segmentation and monitoring solutions should be deployed to detect anomalous gadget loading activities and unauthorized data exfiltration attempts. Additionally, organizations should establish strict approval processes for dashboard gadget deployment and implement web application firewalls that can detect and block malicious gadget payloads. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of maintaining robust input validation controls and proper sandboxing mechanisms for dynamic content execution within enterprise web applications, as outlined in security frameworks such as the OWASP Top Ten and NIST Cybersecurity Framework. Regular security assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar validation weaknesses in other enterprise applications that may present similar attack vectors.