CVE-2022-46738 in iBoot-PDU
Summary
by MITRE • 05/23/2023
The affected product exposes multiple sensitive data fields of the affected product. An attacker can use the SNMP command to get device mac address and login as admin.
Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/16/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2022-46738 represents a critical information disclosure flaw within network devices that implement SNMP protocols. This weakness allows unauthorized attackers to extract sensitive operational data through standard SNMP commands, fundamentally compromising the security posture of affected systems. The exposure of multiple sensitive data fields creates a significant attack surface that can be exploited without requiring advanced privileges or complex exploitation techniques.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate access controls and insufficient data sanitization within the SNMP service implementation. When SNMP queries are executed against the affected device, the system responds with detailed information including MAC addresses and administrative credentials. This occurs due to improper authorization checks that fail to validate whether the requesting entity has legitimate access rights to retrieve such sensitive information. The flaw essentially allows any entity with network access to perform SNMP queries and obtain confidential device metadata that should remain protected.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability creates a direct path to administrative compromise and full system control. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability can obtain the device MAC address which serves as a critical piece of information for network reconnaissance and lateral movement activities. More critically, the ability to retrieve administrative login credentials enables immediate unauthorized access to the device management interfaces, allowing attackers to modify configurations, install malicious software, or establish persistent backdoors. The ease of exploitation means that even basic network scanning tools can identify and exploit this vulnerability without requiring specialized knowledge or advanced attack infrastructure.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-200, which describes the exposure of sensitive information to an unauthorized actor, and represents a clear violation of the principle of least privilege in network security. According to ATT&CK framework, this vulnerability maps to T1082 (System Information Discovery) and T1078 (Valid Accounts) as attackers can use the exposed information to discover system details and subsequently leverage valid administrative credentials for further compromise. Organizations implementing affected devices face immediate risk of unauthorized access and potential network-wide infiltration, as the exposed MAC addresses and administrative credentials can be used to map network topology and gain elevated privileges.
Mitigation strategies should focus on implementing proper SNMP access controls with restricted community strings and IP-based access restrictions. Network administrators must ensure that SNMP services are only accessible from trusted management stations and that community strings are changed from default values. Additionally, implementing network segmentation and firewall rules to restrict SNMP traffic to necessary administrative hosts can significantly reduce the attack surface. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning should be conducted to identify similar exposures across the network infrastructure, as this type of information disclosure vulnerability often indicates broader security misconfigurations that may affect other system components.