11 Bugs in Cisco Data Center Network Manager Let Hackers Perform RCE, SQL Injection, Authentication Bypass Attacks

Cisco released a security update for several vulnerabilities that affected the Cisco products, including 3 critical remote code execution vulnerabilities that affected the Cisco Datacenter Network Manager let attackers take admin privilege remotely.

Out of 12 vulnerability, 3 marked as “Critical” severity, 7 bugs of categorized as “High” severity, and the rest of the 2 vulnerabilities listed under ” Medium” severity.

Cisco Data Center Network Manager (DCNM) is a network management solution for next-generation Data Centers, and the Cisco DCNM’s goal is to reduce Operation expenses by providing efficient operations and troubleshooting.

Critical Severity Vulnerabilities

3 Critical vulnerabilities that exist in the authentication mechanisms of the Cisco Data Center Network Manager (DCNM) could allow unauthenticated and remote attackers to bypass the authentication of executing the arbitrary code in the affected system.

Vulnerabilities affect the earlier version of  Cisco DCNM software 11.3(1) for Microsoft Windows, Linux, and virtual appliance platforms.

All 3 vulnerabilities allow attackers to bypass the authentication of the following:

• Cisco Data Center Network Manager REST API ( CVE ID: CVE-2019-15975 )
• Cisco Data Center Network Manager SOAP API {CVE ID: CVE-2019-15976)
• The web-based management interface of the Cisco DCNM (CVE ID: CVE-2019-15977)

High Severity Vulnerabilities

There are 7 high severity vulnerabilities addressed in this security update and it allows attackers to perform different attackers such as SQL injection, injecting malicious commands and directory traversal attacks.

2 SQL injection vulnerabilities that affected the Cisco Data Center Network Manager Let remote attackers execute arbitrary SQL commands on an affected device. 

Researchers discovered a 3 Cisco Data Center Network Manager Path Traversal Vulnerabilities that allow a remote attacker to conduct directory traversal attacks on an affected device with admin privilege.

2 Command injection vulnerabilities are uncovered in the REST and SOAP API endpoints of Cisco Data Center Network Manager that allows attackers to inject arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system (OS).

Cisco Vulnerabilities Details

Cisco Data Center Network Manager Authentication Bypass Vulnerabilities	Critical
Cisco Data Center Network Manager SQL Injection Vulnerabilities	High
Cisco Data Center Network Manager Path Traversal Vulnerabilities	High
Cisco Data Center Network Manager Command Injection Vulnerabilities	High
Cisco Data Center Network Manager XML External Entity Read Access Vulnerability	Medium
Cisco Data Center Network Manager JBoss EAP Unauthorized Access Vulnerability	Medium

Cisco advised the affected customers to apply these patches immediately to keep the network and application safe and secure from cyber attack.

Cisco has released updates to address this vulnerability; you can find the advisory here.