CVE-2020-3241 in UCS Director
Summary
by MITRE
A vulnerability in the orchestration tasks of Cisco UCS Director could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to perform a path traversal attack on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of user-supplied input on the web-based management interface. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by creating a task with specific configuration parameters. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to overwrite arbitrary files in the file system of an affected device.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/24/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2020-3241 resides within Cisco UCS Director's orchestration task functionality, representing a critical security weakness that enables authenticated remote attackers to execute path traversal attacks against affected systems. This flaw specifically targets the web-based management interface of Cisco UCS Director, which serves as the primary administrative portal for managing unified computing systems. The vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation mechanisms that fail to properly sanitize user-supplied parameters during task creation processes, creating an exploitable condition that can be leveraged by malicious actors with valid credentials.
Cisco UCS Director operates as a comprehensive orchestration platform that manages complex data center environments, making it a prime target for attackers seeking to compromise infrastructure management systems. The affected device's file system becomes vulnerable to arbitrary file overwrites when an attacker crafts specific configuration parameters within orchestration tasks. This path traversal vulnerability allows an authenticated attacker to manipulate file system paths and potentially replace critical system files, which could lead to complete system compromise and persistent access. The flaw is particularly concerning because it operates within the legitimate administrative interface, making detection more challenging and exploiting the trust relationship between administrators and the system.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple file overwrites, as it can enable attackers to establish persistent backdoors, escalate privileges, or disrupt critical data center operations. Attackers could leverage this weakness to modify system binaries, configuration files, or log data, potentially leading to complete system takeover. The attack vector requires only authentication credentials, meaning that any user with legitimate access to the UCS Director interface could exploit this vulnerability, making it particularly dangerous in environments where administrative access is granted to multiple users. This vulnerability directly maps to CWE-22 Path Traversal and aligns with ATT&CK techniques such as T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter and T1486 Data Encrypted for Impact.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2020-3241 should prioritize immediate patching of affected Cisco UCS Director installations, as Cisco has released security updates to address this specific vulnerability. Network segmentation and access control measures should be implemented to limit administrative access to the UCS Director interface, reducing the attack surface for potential exploitation. Additionally, implementing robust input validation controls and regular security assessments of the web interface can help detect and prevent similar vulnerabilities. Organizations should also establish monitoring procedures to detect unauthorized file modifications and maintain comprehensive backup strategies to ensure rapid recovery in case of successful exploitation. The vulnerability highlights the importance of input validation controls in web applications and underscores the need for security testing of administrative interfaces to prevent path traversal attacks.