CVE-2020-3592 in SD-WAN vManage
Summary
by MITRE • 11/07/2020
A vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco SD-WAN vManage Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to bypass authorization and modify the configuration of an affected system. The vulnerability is due to insufficient authorization checking on an affected system. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted HTTP requests to the web-based management interface of an affected system. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to gain privileges beyond what would normally be authorized for their configured user authorization level. This could allow the attacker to modify the configuration of an affected system.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/03/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2020-3592 affects Cisco SD-WAN vManage Software, a critical component in software-defined wide area networking solutions that manages network policies, configurations, and monitoring across distributed enterprise environments. This flaw represents a significant security weakness in the web-based management interface that serves as the primary administrative portal for configuring and managing SD-WAN deployments. The vulnerability stems from inadequate authorization controls that fail to properly validate user privileges before processing administrative requests, creating a path for malicious actors to escalate their privileges within the system.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability manifests through insufficient authorization checking mechanisms within the web interface's request processing pipeline. An authenticated attacker who has gained access to the system through legitimate credentials can exploit this weakness by crafting specially designed HTTP requests that bypass normal access controls. This type of vulnerability falls under the CWE-285 category of Improper Authorization, specifically addressing insufficient authorization checks that allow unauthorized access to protected resources. The flaw operates at the application layer of the OSI model where the web interface fails to properly validate that incoming requests originate from users with appropriate privilege levels for the requested operations.
From an operational perspective, the impact of CVE-2020-3592 extends beyond simple privilege escalation to potentially compromise the entire SD-WAN infrastructure. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability could modify critical network configurations, alter routing policies, change security settings, or even disable essential network services. The implications are particularly severe in enterprise environments where SD-WAN solutions manage critical network traffic flows, as unauthorized configuration changes could lead to network outages, data exposure, or complete service disruption. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1078.004 for Valid Accounts and T1484.001 for Group Policy Modification, representing a sophisticated attack vector that leverages legitimate administrative access to achieve unauthorized system control.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including enforcing strict access controls through role-based access control mechanisms, implementing network segmentation between management interfaces and production networks, and deploying web application firewalls to monitor and filter suspicious HTTP requests. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of proper authorization checking in web applications and aligns with security best practices outlined in NIST SP 800-53 and ISO 27001 frameworks. Regular security assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar authorization weaknesses in other network management interfaces, while also ensuring that all administrative interfaces maintain robust authentication and authorization controls. Cisco has released patches and updates to address this vulnerability, and organizations should prioritize applying these security updates to prevent exploitation attempts.