CVE-2023-20254 in Catalyst SD-WAN Manager
Summary
by MITRE • 10/25/2023
A vulnerability in the session management system of the Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager multi-tenant feature could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to access another tenant that is being managed by the same Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager instance. This vulnerability requires the multi-tenant feature to be enabled.
This vulnerability is due to insufficient user session management within the Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager system. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted request to an affected system. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to gain unauthorized access to information about another tenant, make configuration changes, or possibly take a tenant offline causing a denial of service condition.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/25/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2023-20254 represents a critical session management flaw within Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager's multi-tenant architecture, specifically affecting systems where the multi-tenant feature is actively enabled. This issue manifests as a failure in proper tenant isolation mechanisms, creating a pathway for authenticated remote attackers to bypass intended security boundaries. The vulnerability resides in the fundamental session handling logic that governs how user authentication and authorization are maintained across different tenant environments within the same management instance.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate session management controls that fail to properly validate tenant boundaries during authenticated requests. Attackers can craft specific HTTP requests that manipulate session tokens or authentication contexts to gain access to resources belonging to different tenants within the same SD-WAN Manager instance. This flaw operates at the application layer and leverages the inherent multi-tenant architecture design, where multiple organizations share the same management platform while maintaining separate operational domains. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-613 as insufficient session management, which directly relates to improper handling of session identifiers and authentication states that should maintain strict tenant isolation.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple information disclosure to encompass full administrative capabilities across multiple tenant environments. Successful exploitation could enable attackers to view sensitive configuration data, modify network policies, deploy malicious configurations, or execute denial of service attacks against specific tenants. This represents a significant compromise in the multi-tenant security model that Cisco SD-WAN Manager is designed to provide, potentially allowing attackers to pivot between different customer environments and escalate their access privileges. The attack vector requires only remote access with valid authentication credentials, making it particularly dangerous in environments where administrative access is granted to multiple users or where credential compromise is possible through social engineering or other attack vectors.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should implement immediate mitigations including disabling the multi-tenant feature if not actively required, implementing additional network segmentation controls, and monitoring for unauthorized access attempts. The recommended security controls align with ATT&CK technique T1078 for Valid Accounts and T1566 for Phishing, as the vulnerability could be exploited through credential theft or social engineering approaches. Network administrators should also consider implementing strict access controls, regular session timeout configurations, and enhanced logging of tenant-specific access patterns to detect potential exploitation attempts. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of proper session management in multi-tenant environments and highlights the need for comprehensive security testing of shared infrastructure components.