CVE-2020-5367 in Unisphere for PowerMax
Summary
by MITRE
Dell EMC Unisphere for PowerMax versions prior to 9.1.0.17, Dell EMC Unisphere for PowerMax Virtual Appliance versions prior to 9.1.0.17, and PowerMax OS Release 5978 contain an improper certificate validation vulnerability. An unauthenticated remote attacker may potentially exploit this vulnerability to carry out a man-in-the-middle attack by supplying a crafted certificate and intercepting the victim's traffic to view or modify a victim’s data in transit.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/16/2024
This vulnerability exists in Dell EMC Unisphere for PowerMax and PowerMax OS systems where the software fails to properly validate SSL/TLS certificates during secure communications. The improper certificate validation flaw allows attackers to bypass the normal security mechanisms that protect data in transit between clients and servers. When systems attempt to establish secure connections, they do not adequately verify the authenticity and integrity of the certificates presented by the communicating parties, creating a significant security gap that can be exploited by malicious actors without requiring any authentication credentials.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from weak certificate validation logic within the cryptographic communication stack of these Dell EMC products. Attackers can leverage this weakness by presenting forged or malicious certificates that appear legitimate to the vulnerable systems. This allows them to perform man-in-the-middle attacks where they can intercept, read, and modify data flowing between legitimate users and the target systems. The flaw specifically affects versions prior to 9.1.0.17 of both the Unisphere software and PowerMax OS, indicating that these particular releases contained insufficient certificate verification routines that should have been validating certificate chains, expiration dates, and issuer authenticity.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe as it compromises the fundamental security assurances of encrypted communications. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability can gain unauthorized access to sensitive data that would normally be protected by transport layer security. This includes potentially accessing configuration information, user credentials, system logs, and other confidential data that flows through the affected systems. The lack of authentication requirements for exploitation means that any remote attacker can potentially initiate these attacks, making the vulnerability particularly dangerous in network environments where these systems are accessible from external networks.
From a cybersecurity framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to CWE-295 which specifically addresses improper certificate validation, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566 for credential harvesting through man-in-the-middle attacks. The vulnerability represents a critical failure in the security architecture of these systems and demonstrates the importance of proper cryptographic implementation. Organizations should immediately upgrade to Dell EMC Unisphere for PowerMax version 9.1.0.17 or later, and PowerMax OS Release 5978 or newer, to remediate this issue. Additional mitigations include implementing network segmentation, monitoring for suspicious certificate activity, and ensuring that all communications with these systems occur through secure channels with proper certificate validation in place.