CVE-2019-5351 in Intelligent Management Center PLAT
Summary
by MITRE
A remote code execution vulnerability was identified in HPE Intelligent Management Center (IMC) PLAT earlier than version 7.3 E0506P09.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/20/2020
The vulnerability CVE-2019-5351 represents a critical remote code execution flaw in HPE Intelligent Management Center (IMC) PLAT software versions prior to 7.3 E0506P09. This vulnerability resides within the web-based management interface of the IMC platform, which is widely deployed in enterprise network management environments for monitoring and controlling HPE networking equipment. The affected system serves as a central management hub for various HPE products including switches, routers, and wireless access points, making it a prime target for attackers seeking to compromise large network infrastructures. The vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation mechanisms within the web application's processing of user-supplied data, creating an avenue for malicious actors to inject and execute arbitrary code on the affected system.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through a specific input validation flaw that allows attackers to manipulate the application's parameter handling mechanisms. When the IMC platform processes certain HTTP requests containing maliciously crafted parameters, the system fails to properly sanitize or validate the input before processing it within the application context. This insufficient validation creates a path for command injection attacks where an attacker can append malicious commands to legitimate requests, effectively bypassing authentication mechanisms and gaining unauthorized access to the underlying operating system. The vulnerability specifically affects the platform's web interface components that handle administrative functions, making it particularly dangerous as it could allow full system compromise without requiring legitimate credentials. This flaw aligns with CWE-77 and CWE-94 categories, representing command injection and code injection vulnerabilities respectively, which are fundamental security weaknesses that enable attackers to execute arbitrary code on target systems.
The operational impact of CVE-2019-5351 extends far beyond simple system compromise, as the IMC platform typically serves as a central nervous system for enterprise networks. Successful exploitation could enable attackers to gain complete administrative control over the management platform, potentially leading to unauthorized network access, data exfiltration, and disruption of critical network services. Network administrators might lose visibility into their network infrastructure, while attackers could leverage the compromised platform to pivot into other network segments, amplifying the attack scope significantly. The vulnerability's remote exploitability means that attackers can target affected systems from anywhere on the internet without requiring physical access or local network presence, making it particularly dangerous for organizations with exposed management interfaces. This threat scenario aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059 which covers command and scripting interpreter usage, and T1078 which addresses valid accounts for lateral movement.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including deployment of the vendor-provided patches for HPE IMC PLAT version 7.3 E0506P09 or later, which address the input validation flaws through proper sanitization mechanisms. Network segmentation should be enforced to limit exposure of the IMC platform to external networks, while firewall rules should restrict access to the management interface to only trusted administrative workstations. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning should be conducted to identify any remaining unpatched systems within the organization's infrastructure. Additionally, implementing network monitoring solutions that can detect anomalous traffic patterns associated with exploitation attempts can provide early warning capabilities. The remediation process should include comprehensive testing of patched systems to ensure that the vulnerability has been properly addressed without introducing regressions in functionality. Organizations should also consider implementing additional security controls such as multi-factor authentication for administrative access and regular security awareness training for network administrators to reduce the risk of credential compromise.