CVE-2023-4149 in Industrial Managed Switch
Summary
by MITRE • 11/21/2023
A vulnerability in the web-based management allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to inject arbitrary system commands and gain full system control. Those commands are executed with root privileges. The vulnerability is located in the user request handling of the web-based management.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/21/2023
This vulnerability represents a critical remote code execution flaw in web-based management interfaces that fundamentally undermines system security boundaries. The vulnerability exists within the request handling mechanism of the web management interface, creating an attack vector that allows unauthenticated remote adversaries to inject arbitrary system commands directly into the underlying operating system. The flaw enables attackers to escalate privileges to root level execution, providing complete system compromise without requiring any authentication credentials or prior access to the target environment.
The technical nature of this vulnerability aligns with common web application security weaknesses that fall under the CWE-94 category of "Improper Control of Generation of Code" and specifically relates to CWE-77 which addresses "Command Injection." This classification indicates that the web interface fails to properly validate or sanitize user input before executing system commands, creating a direct pathway for attackers to manipulate the application's command execution flow. The vulnerability's location within the user request handling component suggests that input parameters passed through HTTP requests are not adequately filtered or escaped before being processed by the system shell.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and far-reaching, as it allows attackers to execute commands with the highest level of system privileges available. This privilege escalation capability enables complete system compromise including but not limited to data exfiltration, system modification, privilege escalation to additional accounts, installation of persistent backdoors, and disruption of services. The unauthenticated nature of the attack means that any remote actor can exploit this vulnerability without requiring valid credentials, making the attack surface extremely broad and the risk assessment particularly concerning for publicly accessible systems.
Mitigation strategies should focus on implementing robust input validation and sanitization mechanisms at all points where user data enters the system. The web application should employ proper parameterized queries and command execution methods that prevent shell injection attacks. Additionally, implementing principle of least privilege access controls, network segmentation, and regular security monitoring can help reduce the overall impact of such vulnerabilities. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls and intrusion detection systems to detect and block suspicious command injection attempts. The vulnerability highlights the critical importance of secure coding practices and proper input validation in web applications, particularly those handling system-level operations that require elevated privileges for execution.