CVE-2021-36313 in CloudLink
Summary
by MITRE • 11/23/2021
Dell EMC CloudLink 7.1 and all prior versions contain an OS command injection Vulnerability. A remote high privileged attacker, may potentially exploit this vulnerability, leading to the execution of arbitrary OS commands on the application's underlying OS, with the privileges of the vulnerable application. Exploitation may lead to a system take over by an attacker. This vulnerability is considered critical as it may be leveraged to completely compromise the vulnerable application as well as the underlying operating system. Dell recommends customers to upgrade at the earliest opportunity.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/27/2021
This vulnerability exists within Dell EMC CloudLink 7.1 and earlier versions, representing a critical operating system command injection flaw that poses significant security risks to affected systems. The vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and sanitization within the application's processing logic, allowing maliciously crafted inputs to be interpreted and executed as operating system commands. Attackers with high privileged remote access can exploit this weakness to execute arbitrary code on the underlying operating system with the same privileges as the vulnerable application, effectively enabling complete system compromise.
The technical nature of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-77, which specifically addresses command injection flaws where untrusted data is incorporated into operating system commands without proper validation or sanitization. This weakness creates a direct pathway for attackers to bypass application security controls and gain unauthorized access to system resources. The vulnerability's critical severity classification stems from its potential to enable full system takeover, as demonstrated by the ability to execute commands with application privileges that may include elevated system access. According to ATT&CK framework, this represents a command and control technique where adversaries can establish persistent access through arbitrary command execution.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple privilege escalation, as successful exploitation can lead to complete system compromise and data exfiltration. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability to install malware, modify system configurations, access sensitive data, or establish backdoors for continued unauthorized access. The underlying operating system becomes fully compromised, potentially affecting network connectivity, system integrity, and overall organizational security posture. Organizations running affected Dell EMC CloudLink versions face significant risk of unauthorized system access and potential data breaches.
Organizations should immediately implement the recommended mitigation strategy of upgrading to the latest available version of Dell EMC CloudLink to address this vulnerability. The upgrade process should include thorough testing in non-production environments before deployment to ensure compatibility and minimize operational disruption. Additional temporary mitigations may include network segmentation, firewall rule implementation, and monitoring for suspicious command execution patterns. Security teams should also conduct comprehensive vulnerability assessments to identify any potential exploitation attempts and implement enhanced logging and monitoring capabilities to detect unauthorized access attempts. Regular security updates and patch management processes should be reinforced to prevent similar vulnerabilities from emerging in the future.