CVE-2022-2975 in Aura Application Enablement Services
Summary
by MITRE • 10/06/2022
A vulnerability related to weak permissions was detected in Avaya Aura Application Enablement Services web application, allowing an administrative user to modify accounts leading to execution of arbitrary code as the root user. This issue affects Application Enablement Services versions 8.0.0.0 through 8.1.3.4 and 10.1.0.0 through 10.1.0.1. Versions prior to 8.0.0.0 are end of manufacturing support and were not evaluated.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/28/2026
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2022-2975 represents a critical privilege escalation flaw within Avaya Aura Application Enablement Services web application that demonstrates a fundamental weakness in access control mechanisms. This issue stems from inadequate permission controls that allow authenticated administrative users to manipulate account configurations in ways that ultimately result in arbitrary code execution with root privileges. The vulnerability specifically impacts a range of versions including 8.0.0.0 through 8.1.3.4 and 10.1.0.0 through 10.1.0.1, indicating a widespread concern across multiple release branches of the application enablement services platform. The affected system architecture appears to lack proper input validation and access restriction controls that would normally prevent administrative users from escalating their privileges to the highest system level.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability involves a chain of privilege escalation where an authenticated user with administrative rights can leverage weak permission controls to modify account configurations that ultimately lead to code execution as the root user. This represents a classic privilege escalation attack pattern that aligns with CWE-269 which describes "Improper Privilege Management" and specifically addresses scenarios where insufficient access control allows unauthorized privilege elevation. The flaw likely exists in the application's account management subsystem where administrative functions do not properly validate or restrict the scope of actions that can be performed by users with administrative privileges. This weakness creates a path where legitimate administrative users can be exploited to perform actions that should be restricted to system-level processes or require additional authentication mechanisms.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple unauthorized access to encompass complete system compromise and potential data exfiltration. When an attacker can execute arbitrary code as root, they gain unrestricted access to all system resources including databases, configuration files, network interfaces, and other critical system components. This vulnerability directly aligns with attack techniques described in the MITRE ATT&CK framework under privilege escalation tactics where adversaries seek to gain higher-level permissions to access sensitive information or disrupt system operations. The affected environment becomes vulnerable to complete compromise where attackers can install backdoors, modify system configurations, access confidential data, or use the compromised system as a pivot point for further attacks within the network infrastructure.
Organizations implementing Avaya Aura Application Enablement Services within their network infrastructure face significant risk exposure from this vulnerability. The combination of administrative access requirements with weak permission controls creates a dangerous attack surface where legitimate administrative users could be compromised through social engineering, credential theft, or other attack vectors. The affected versions span multiple major releases indicating that this is not a recent regression but rather a persistent flaw that has remained unaddressed across several product iterations. Security teams should immediately assess their implementation of these services and implement mitigations including network segmentation, monitoring for unauthorized administrative activities, and credential hardening measures. Additionally, the vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper access control design and the necessity of implementing principle of least privilege controls even for administrative users to prevent escalation to system-level privileges.