CVE-2022-27903 in Professional
Summary
by MITRE • 05/04/2022
An OS Command Injection vulnerability in the configuration parser of Eve-NG Professional through 4.0.1-65 and Eve-NG Community through 2.0.3-112 allows a remote authenticated attacker to execute commands as root by editing virtualization command parameters of imported UNL files.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/07/2022
The CVE-2022-27903 vulnerability represents a critical operating system command injection flaw within the Eve-NG network emulation platform that affects both Professional and Community editions. This vulnerability exists in the configuration parser component responsible for processing imported UNL (Universal Network Language) files, which are used to define network topologies and virtual machine configurations. The flaw allows an authenticated remote attacker to escalate privileges and execute arbitrary commands with root-level permissions, fundamentally compromising the entire system integrity and potentially the underlying infrastructure.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and sanitization within the UNL file parsing mechanism. When Eve-NG processes imported UNL files containing virtualization command parameters, the system fails to properly sanitize user-supplied input before incorporating it into system commands. This occurs during the configuration parsing phase where attacker-controlled parameters are directly concatenated into shell execution contexts without proper escaping or validation. The vulnerability specifically manifests when attackers import malicious UNL files that contain specially crafted command injection payloads within the virtualization command parameters, enabling them to bypass authentication mechanisms and execute arbitrary commands with elevated privileges.
The operational impact of CVE-2022-27903 is severe and far-reaching within network emulation environments where Eve-NG is deployed. An authenticated attacker can leverage this vulnerability to gain full root access to the host system, potentially leading to complete compromise of the network emulation infrastructure. This includes unauthorized access to all virtual machines and network topologies managed by the platform, data exfiltration from sensitive network configurations, and potential lateral movement within the network environment. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous in enterprise settings where Eve-NG is used for network testing, training, or development environments, as it could provide attackers with a foothold for more extensive attacks. The remote nature of the exploit means that attackers do not require physical access or local system privileges, making the attack surface significantly broader.
Organizations using Eve-NG Professional version 4.0.1-65 and Community version 2.0.3-112 should immediately implement mitigations including applying the latest available patches from the vendor, implementing network segmentation to restrict access to Eve-NG systems, and disabling UNL file import functionality if not essential to operations. Additional protective measures include implementing strict access controls, monitoring for suspicious UNL file imports, and conducting regular security assessments of the platform configuration. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-78, which specifically addresses OS Command Injection, and maps to ATT&CK technique T1059.001 for command and scripting interpreter. Organizations should also consider implementing network-based intrusion detection systems to monitor for command injection patterns and establish incident response procedures specifically addressing this type of privilege escalation vulnerability. The remediation process requires careful validation of the patch application to ensure compatibility with existing network topologies while maintaining the security posture of the emulation environment.