CVE-2019-5259 in AR120-S
Summary
by MITRE
There is an information leakage vulnerability on some Huawei products(AR120-S;AR1200;AR1200-S;AR150;AR150-S;AR160;AR200;AR200-S;AR2200;AR2200-S;AR3200;AR3600). An attacker with low permissions can view some high-privilege information by running specific commands.Successful exploit could cause an information disclosure condition.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/12/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-5259 represents a critical information disclosure weakness affecting multiple Huawei networking equipment models including AR120-S, AR1200, AR1200-S, AR150, AR150-S, AR160, AR200, AR200-S, AR2200, AR2200-S, AR3200, and AR3600 series devices. This flaw stems from insufficient privilege validation mechanisms within the command execution framework of these network appliances, allowing unauthorized users to access sensitive system information that should typically be restricted to administrative or high-privilege accounts. The vulnerability falls under the category of privilege escalation and information disclosure as classified by CWE-200 and CWE-264, respectively, demonstrating how inadequate access controls can create significant security risks in enterprise networking infrastructure.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability exploits weak command-level authorization checks within the Huawei device operating systems. When legitimate users execute specific administrative commands without proper authentication or authorization, the system fails to properly validate their privilege levels before returning sensitive information. This misconfiguration enables attackers with minimal credentials to retrieve configuration data, user accounts, system logs, and other confidential information that should be protected by proper access control mechanisms. The flaw operates at the application layer of the network stack and can be exploited through the device's command-line interface or remote management protocols, making it particularly dangerous for network administrators who may unknowingly grant access to unauthorized personnel.
The operational impact of CVE-2019-5259 extends beyond simple information disclosure, as the leaked data can provide attackers with critical insights for subsequent attacks. Network configuration details, user credentials, system vulnerabilities, and operational parameters exposed by this flaw could enable sophisticated attackers to plan targeted attacks against the network infrastructure. The vulnerability creates a persistent risk for organizations as it allows attackers to gather intelligence about network topology, device configurations, and security implementations without requiring elevated privileges. This information leakage directly impacts the CIA triad by compromising confidentiality and potentially enabling further exploitation through techniques such as credential harvesting, network mapping, and attack surface expansion as outlined in the MITRE ATT&CK framework under T1087 (Account Discovery) and T1069 (Permission Groups Discovery).
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should immediately implement comprehensive mitigation strategies including strict access control enforcement, regular privilege level reviews, and immediate firmware updates from Huawei to address the identified security gaps. Network administrators must ensure that all user accounts have appropriate privilege levels assigned based on the principle of least privilege, while also implementing monitoring solutions to detect unauthorized access attempts. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper input validation and privilege checking mechanisms within network device firmware, aligning with industry best practices for secure system design and implementation. Organizations should also conduct thorough security assessments of their network infrastructure to identify similar privilege escalation vulnerabilities and implement network segmentation to limit the potential impact of such information disclosure incidents.