CVE-2024-20277 in ThousandEyes Enterprise Agent Virtual Appliance
Summary
by MITRE • 01/17/2024
A vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco ThousandEyes Enterprise Agent, Virtual Appliance installation type, could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to perform a command injection and elevate privileges to root. This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of user-supplied input for the web interface. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted HTTP packet to the affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands and elevate privileges to root.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/28/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-20277 represents a critical command injection flaw within Cisco ThousandEyes Enterprise Agent's web-based management interface. This security weakness specifically affects the Virtual Appliance installation type, creating a significant attack surface for malicious actors who can leverage it to gain complete system control. The vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation mechanisms that fail to properly sanitize user-supplied data submitted through the web interface, allowing attackers to inject malicious commands that bypass normal security controls.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability requires an authenticated attacker who can send specially crafted HTTP requests to the affected device. This authentication requirement reduces the attack surface compared to unauthenticated vulnerabilities but still presents a serious risk since legitimate users with access credentials could be compromised or malicious actors could potentially obtain valid credentials through other means. The flaw enables attackers to execute arbitrary commands on the target system with the highest possible privileges, effectively granting them root access to the entire appliance. This privilege escalation capability transforms a simple command injection into a complete system compromise.
The operational impact of CVE-2024-20277 extends beyond immediate system compromise to encompass potential data breaches, system availability disruption, and lateral movement within network environments. Organizations relying on Cisco ThousandEyes for network monitoring and visibility face significant risks since this appliance typically operates in critical network infrastructure environments where unauthorized access could lead to widespread service disruption. The vulnerability's presence in the Virtual Appliance installation type means that organizations deploying this specific configuration are particularly vulnerable, as the web interface serves as the primary management entry point for administrators. Attackers could leverage this access to establish persistent backdoors, exfiltrate sensitive network monitoring data, or use the compromised appliance as a launch point for further attacks against other network segments.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including applying the latest security patches from Cisco, restricting network access to the web interface through firewall rules, and implementing network segmentation to limit potential attack paths. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-77 and CWE-20 categories, representing command injection and input validation flaws respectively, while also mapping to ATT&CK techniques such as T1059 for command and scripting interpreter and T1566 for credential harvesting. Network administrators should also consider implementing intrusion detection systems to monitor for suspicious HTTP traffic patterns and establish strict access controls for the web interface, limiting administrative access to only essential personnel with proper authentication mechanisms in place.