CVE-2023-3265 in PowerPanel
Summary
by MITRE • 08/14/2023
An authentication bypass exists on CyberPower PowerPanel Enterprise by failing to sanitize meta-characters from the username, allowing an attacker to login into the application with the default user "cyberpower" by appending a non-printable character.An unauthenticated attacker can leverage this vulnerability to log in to the CypberPower PowerPanel Enterprise as an administrator with hardcoded default credentials.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/14/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2023-3265 represents a critical authentication bypass flaw within CyberPower PowerPanel Enterprise software, a widely deployed power management solution used in enterprise environments for monitoring and controlling uninterruptible power supplies. This weakness stems from inadequate input validation mechanisms within the authentication subsystem, specifically failing to properly sanitize user input during the login process. The vulnerability manifests when attackers exploit improper handling of meta-characters within the username field, allowing malicious input to bypass standard authentication checks.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability relies on appending non-printable characters to the default username "cyberpower" to manipulate the authentication logic. This type of flaw falls under CWE-20, which categorizes improper input validation as a fundamental security weakness that can lead to various authentication bypass scenarios. The vulnerability enables unauthenticated attackers to gain administrative access to the system using hardcoded default credentials, effectively circumventing the intended security controls that should prevent unauthorized access to privileged functions.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe for organizations relying on CyberPower PowerPanel Enterprise for critical infrastructure management. Successful exploitation allows attackers to assume full administrative privileges, potentially leading to complete system compromise, unauthorized configuration changes, data exfiltration, and disruption of power management services that may affect business continuity. The default credential usage combined with the authentication bypass creates a particularly dangerous scenario where even minimal reconnaissance can lead to complete system takeover.
Organizations should immediately implement mitigations including applying vendor-provided patches, disabling unnecessary administrative accounts, implementing network segmentation to limit access to the PowerPanel Enterprise system, and conducting thorough security assessments of all instances. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper input sanitization and the dangers of relying on default credentials in enterprise applications. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to T1078.004 (Valid Accounts: Default Accounts) and T1110.003 (Brute Force: Password Guessing) techniques, highlighting how default credential weaknesses can be exploited to achieve privileged access without sophisticated attack methods. Security teams should also consider implementing additional authentication controls such as multi-factor authentication and monitoring for unusual login patterns to detect potential exploitation attempts.