CVE-2020-5350 in Integrated Data Protection Appliance
Summary
by MITRE
Dell EMC Integrated Data Protection Appliance versions 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4 contain a command injection vulnerability in the ACM component. A remote authenticated malicious user with root privileges could inject parameters in the ACM component APIs that could lead to manipulation of passwords and execution of malicious commands on ACM component.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/27/2024
The CVE-2020-5350 vulnerability affects Dell EMC Integrated Data Protection Appliance versions 2.0 through 2.4, specifically within the ACM component that handles authentication and access control management. This represents a critical command injection flaw that fundamentally undermines the security posture of the appliance by allowing authenticated attackers to manipulate system operations through API interfaces. The vulnerability resides in how the ACM component processes user-supplied parameters, creating an environment where malicious inputs can be interpreted and executed as system commands rather than being properly sanitized or validated.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through the ACM component APIs where parameter validation is insufficient to prevent malicious command injection attacks. An attacker with root privileges can craft specially formatted API requests that include command injection payloads, enabling them to manipulate password configurations and execute arbitrary system commands on the affected appliance. This flaw aligns with CWE-77 which categorizes command injection vulnerabilities as those where untrusted data is directly incorporated into command execution contexts without proper sanitization or validation. The vulnerability essentially allows attackers to bypass normal access controls and gain deeper system control through legitimate API interfaces that should only permit authorized operations.
Operationally, this vulnerability presents a severe risk to organizations relying on Dell EMC IDPA appliances for data protection and backup operations. The ability to manipulate passwords and execute commands remotely through API interfaces means that attackers can potentially compromise the entire backup infrastructure, modify backup schedules, access sensitive data, and disrupt critical business continuity operations. The impact extends beyond immediate system compromise as the attacker could use this vulnerability to establish persistent access, escalate privileges, or use the compromised appliance as a launch point for attacks against other systems in the network. This aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059 which describes command and scripting interpreter usage for executing malicious commands in compromised environments.
Organizations should immediately implement mitigations including applying the latest firmware updates from Dell EMC that address this specific vulnerability in the ACM component. Network segmentation and API access controls should be strengthened to limit the exposure of vulnerable interfaces to trusted networks only. Additionally, monitoring and logging of API activities should be enhanced to detect unusual parameter patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper input validation and the principle of least privilege in security design, where even authenticated root users should not be able to execute arbitrary commands through API interfaces without proper authorization checks and parameter sanitization.