__________________________________________________________ The U.S. Department of Energy Computer Incident Advisory Capability ___ __ __ _ ___ / | /_\ / \___ __|__ / \ \___ __________________________________________________________ INFORMATION BULLETIN Cisco Security Agent Management Center LDAP Administrator Authentication Bypass [Cisco Security Advisory Document ID: 71954] December 12, 2006 19:00 GMT Number R-071 ______________________________________________________________________________ PROBLEM: Cisco Security Agent Management Center (CSAMC) contains an administrator authentication bypass vulnerability when configured to use an external Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) server for authentication. PLATFORM: CSAMC version 5.1 prior to Hotfix 5.1.0.79 is affected by this vulnerability. DAMAGE: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability allows an attacker with a valid administrator username to gain access to the CSAMC application with the role privileges of the compromised administrator account. SOLUTION: Upgrade to the appropriate version. ______________________________________________________________________________ VULNERABILITY The risk is HIGH. This is remote to root. Successful ASSESSMENT: exploitation of this vulnerability allows an attacker with a valid administrator username to gain access to the CSAMC application with the role privileges of the compromised administrator account. ______________________________________________________________________________ LINKS: CIAC BULLETIN: http://www.ciac.org/ciac/bulletins/r-071.shtml ORIGINAL BULLETIN: Cisco Security Advisory Document ID: 71954 http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/products_security_ advisory09186a00807726f7.shtml ______________________________________________________________________________ [***** Start Cisco Security Advisory Document ID: 71954 *****] Cisco Security Advisory: Cisco Security Agent Management Center LDAP Administrator Authentication Bypass Document ID: 71954 Advisory ID: cisco-sa-20061101-csamc http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/707/cisco-sa-20061101-csamc.shtml Revision 1.0 For Public Release 2006 November 01 1600 UTC (GMT) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contents Summary Affected Products Details Impact Software Version and Fixes Workarounds Obtaining Fixed Software Exploitation and Public Announcements Status of this Notice: FINAL Distribution Revision History Cisco Security Procedures -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Summary Cisco Security Agent Management Center (CSAMC) contains an administrator authentication bypass vulnerability when configured to use an external Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) server for authentication. There is a workaround for this vulnerability. Cisco has made free software available to address this vulnerability for affected customers. This advisory is posted at http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/707/cisco-sa-20061101-csamc.shtml. Affected Products Vulnerable Products CSAMC version 5.1 prior to Hotfix 5.1.0.79 is affected by this vulnerability. Products Confirmed Not Vulnerable CSAMC versions prior to 5.1 are not affected by this vulnerability. No other Cisco products are currently known to be affected by this vulnerability. Details Cisco Security Agent Management Center (CSAMC) version 5.1 contains an administrator authentication bypass vulnerability when configured to authenticate administrators against an external LDAP server. There are three roles for CSAMC administrators: configure, deploy, and monitor. The configure role has complete access to the CSAMC application, including the ability to create security policies. The deploy role can create agent kits, deploy security policies, and perform application monitoring. The deploy role cannot modify security policies. The monitoring role can only perform application monitoring functions. All CSAMC administrator accounts are defined in the local CSAMC database and have an assigned role. CSAMC can be configured to use an external LDAP server to authenticate administrators. As a safety feature, it is possible to specify certain administrator accounts to fall back to local authentication if the LDAP server is unavailable. If CSAMC is configured to use LDAP for authentication, it is possible to supply a valid administrator username and blank (zero length) password and gain administrative access to the CSAMC application with the role privileges of the administrator. This vulnerability occurs when CSAMC incorrectly handles an authentication failure message from the LDAP server. The administrator password stored on the LDAP server is a valid, non-blank password. CSAMC version 5.1 is the first to include external LDAP authentication. LDAP authentication is not the default configuration for CSAMC and must be explicitly configured. The LDAP server in this configuration is not built into CSAMC. Information on configuring administrator LDAP authentication for CSAMC can be found here: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/secursw/ps5057/products_configuration_guide_ chapter09186a008066e98e.html#wp994975 Information on configuring role-based administration for CSAMC can be found here: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/secursw/ps5057/products_configuration_guide_ chapter09186a008066e98e.html#wp965432 This vulnerability is documented in Cisco Bug ID CSCsg40822 ( registered customers only) . Impact Successful exploitation of this vulnerability allows an attacker with a valid administrator username to gain access to the CSAMC application with the role privileges of the compromised administrator account. If the administrator has a role of configure or deploy, it is possible to make policy changes for managed CSA clients. This may be leveraged to reduce the security posture of managed systems and allow potential attacks against the managed systems. Software Version and Fixes When considering software upgrades, also consult http://www.cisco.com/go/psirt and any subsequent advisories to determine exposure and a complete upgrade solution. In all cases, customers should exercise caution to be certain the devices to be upgraded contain sufficient memory and that current hardware and software configurations will continue to be supported properly by the new release. If the information is not clear, contact the Cisco Technical Assistance Center ("TAC") or your contracted maintenance provider for assistance. Affected Software Version Fixed Software Version CSAMC version 5.1 Hotfix prior to 5.1.0.79 CSAMC version 5.1 Hotfix 5.1.0.79 Fixed CSAMC (fcs-csamc-hotfix-5.1.0.79-w2k-k9.zip) software can be downloaded at http://www.cisco.com/pcgi-bin/tablebuild.pl/csahf-crypto?psrtdcat20e2. Workarounds It is possible to workaround this vulnerability by disabling external LDAP authentication and configuring administrators to authenticate against the local CSAMC database. Obtaining Fixed Software Cisco will make free software available to address this vulnerability for affected customers. This advisory will be updated as fixed software becomes available. Prior to deploying software, customers should consult their maintenance provider or check the software for feature set compatibility and known issues specific to their environment. Customers may only install and expect support for the feature sets they have purchased. By installing, downloading, accessing or otherwise using such software upgrades, customers agree to be bound by the terms of Cisco's software license terms found at http://www.cisco.com/public/sw-license-agreement.html, or as otherwise set forth at Cisco.com Downloads at http://www.cisco.com/public/sw-center/sw-usingswc.shtml. Do not contact either "psirt@cisco.com" or "security-alert@cisco.com" for software upgrades. Customers with Service Contracts Customers with contracts should obtain upgraded software through their regular update channels. For most customers, this means that upgrades should be obtained through the Software Center on Cisco's worldwide website at http://www.cisco.com. Customers using Third Party Support Organizations Customers whose Cisco products are provided or maintained through prior or existing agreement with third-party support organizations such as Cisco Partners, authorized resellers, or service providers should contact that support organization for guidance and assistance with the appropriate course of action in regards to this advisory. The effectiveness of any workaround or fix is dependent on specific customer situations such as product mix, network topology, traffic behavior, and organizational mission. Due to the variety of affected products and releases, customers should consult with their service provider or support organization to ensure any applied workaround or fix is the most appropriate for use in the intended network before it is deployed. Customers without Service Contracts Customers who purchase direct from Cisco but who do not hold a Cisco service contract and customers who purchase through third-party vendors but are unsuccessful at obtaining fixed software through their point of sale should get their upgrades by contacting the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC). TAC contacts are as follows. +1 800 553 2447 (toll free from within North America) +1 408 526 7209 (toll call from anywhere in the world) e-mail: tac@cisco.com Have your product serial number available and give the URL of this notice as evidence of your entitlement to a free upgrade. Free upgrades for non-contract customers must be requested through the TAC. Refer to http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/687/Directory/DirTAC.shtml for additional TAC contact information, including special localized telephone numbers and instructions and e-mail addresses for use in various languages. Exploitation and Public Announcements The Cisco PSIRT is not aware of any public announcements or malicious use of the vulnerability described in this advisory. This vulnerability was reported to Cisco by a third party. Status of this Notice: FINAL THIS DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" BASIS AND DOES NOT IMPLY ANY KIND OF GUARANTEE OR WARRANTY, INCLUDING THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR USE. YOUR USE OF THE INFORMATION ON THE DOCUMENT OR MATERIALS LINKED FROM THE DOCUMENT IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. CISCO RESERVES THE RIGHT TO CHANGE OR UPDATE THIS DOCUMENT AT ANY TIME. A stand-alone copy or Paraphrase of the text of this document that omits the distribution URL in the following section is an uncontrolled copy, and may lack important information or contain factual errors. Distribution This advisory is posted on Cisco's worldwide website at : http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/707/cisco-sa-20061101-csamc.shtml In addition to worldwide web posting, a text version of this notice is clear-signed with the Cisco PSIRT PGP key and is posted to the following e-mail and Usenet news recipients. cust-security-announce@cisco.com first-teams@first.org bugtraq@securityfocus.com vulnwatch@vulnwatch.org cisco@spot.colorado.edu cisco-nsp@puck.nether.net full-disclosure@lists.grok.org.uk comp.dcom.sys.cisco@newsgate.cisco.com Future updates of this advisory, if any, will be placed on Cisco's worldwide website, but may or may not be actively announced on mailing lists or newsgroups. Users concerned about this problem are encouraged to check the above URL for any updates. Revision History Revision 1.0 2006-November-01 Initial public release. [***** End Cisco Security Advisory Document ID: 71954 *****] _______________________________________________________________________________ CIAC wishes to acknowledge the contributions of Cisco for the information contained in this bulletin. _______________________________________________________________________________ CIAC, the Computer Incident Advisory Capability, is the computer security incident response team for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the emergency backup response team for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). CIAC is located at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California. CIAC is also a founding member of FIRST, the Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams, a global organization established to foster cooperation and coordination among computer security teams worldwide. CIAC services are available to DOE, DOE contractors, and the NIH. CIAC can be contacted at: Voice: +1 925-422-8193 (7x24) FAX: +1 925-423-8002 STU-III: +1 925-423-2604 E-mail: ciac@ciac.org Previous CIAC notices, anti-virus software, and other information are available from the CIAC Computer Security Archive. World Wide Web: http://www.ciac.org/ Anonymous FTP: ftp.ciac.org PLEASE NOTE: Many users outside of the DOE, ESnet, and NIH computing communities receive CIAC bulletins. If you are not part of these communities, please contact your agency's response team to report incidents. Your agency's team will coordinate with CIAC. The Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST) is a world-wide organization. A list of FIRST member organizations and their constituencies can be obtained via WWW at http://www.first.org/. This document was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor the University of California nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial products, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation or favoring by the United States Government or the University of California. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or the University of California, and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes. LAST 10 CIAC BULLETINS ISSUED (Previous bulletins available from CIAC) R-061: HTTP Requests in Sun Java System Server(s) R-062: proftpd Several Vulnerabilities R-063: Vulnerability in Microsoft Word R-064: GnuPG Security Update R-065: Google Mini and Google Search Appliance Vulnerable R-066: Adobe Download Manager Vulnerability R-067: l2tpns Buffer Overflow R-068: Microsoft Windows Media Player R-069: IBM Tivoli Storage Manager R-070: BrightStor ARCserve Backup