CVE-2020-3362 in Network Services Orchestrator
Summary
by MITRE
A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco Network Services Orchestrator (NSO) could allow an authenticated, local attacker to access confidential information on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to a timing issue in the processing of CLI commands. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by executing a specific sequence of commands on the CLI. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to read configuration information that would normally be accessible to administrators only.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/25/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2020-3362 affects Cisco Network Services Orchestrator (NSO) systems where an authenticated local attacker can potentially access confidential information through a timing-related flaw in the command line interface processing mechanism. This issue represents a significant security concern for network infrastructure management platforms that rely on NSO for orchestrating network services and configurations.
The technical flaw manifests as a timing issue within the CLI command processing subsystem of NSO, where specific sequences of commands can trigger unintended information disclosure behavior. This vulnerability operates at the application layer and requires local authentication to exploit, making it particularly concerning for environments where privileged access is granted to multiple administrators or where access controls may be insufficiently enforced. The timing aspect suggests that the vulnerability is related to race conditions or delayed response handling within the CLI processing logic, where the system's response to certain command sequences may inadvertently expose sensitive data through timing variations in processing.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple information disclosure, as it provides attackers with access to configuration information that should be restricted to administrative users only. This could enable attackers to gather intelligence about network topology, service configurations, and potentially sensitive operational details that could be leveraged for further attacks or system compromise. The vulnerability affects the integrity of access controls within the NSO platform and could facilitate privilege escalation or lateral movement within the network infrastructure.
Organizations utilizing Cisco NSO systems should prioritize immediate mitigation through official security updates provided by Cisco, as the vulnerability requires local authentication to exploit and may be difficult to detect through network monitoring alone. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-200, which addresses information exposure, and potentially with CWE-362, addressing race conditions, while also mapping to ATT&CK technique T1003 for OS credential dumping and T1078 for valid accounts, as it involves unauthorized access to privileged information through legitimate authentication mechanisms.
Mitigation strategies should include applying the latest security patches from Cisco, implementing strict access controls for CLI access, monitoring command execution patterns for suspicious sequences, and conducting regular security assessments of NSO implementations. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing network segmentation to limit local access to NSO systems and establish monitoring procedures to detect anomalous CLI usage patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of secure coding practices in command-line interfaces and highlights the need for thorough testing of access control mechanisms under various timing conditions to prevent similar issues in network management platforms.