Summary

• Cisco Wide Area Application Services (WAAS) when configured as Central Manager (CM), contains a vulnerability that could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on the affected system.
  
  Cisco has released software updates that address this vulnerability. Workarounds that mitigate this vulnerability are not available. This advisory is available at the following link:
  http://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20130731-waascm

Affected Products

• Vulnerable Products

  The following products running a vulnerable version of Cisco WAAS Software and configured as Central Manager (CM) are affected by this vulnerability:
  

  • Cisco WAAS Appliances
  • Cisco Virtual WAAS (vWAAS)
  • Cisco WAAS Modules

  Note: Only Cisco WAAS products configured as Central Manager are affected by this vulnerability.
  
  To determine whether the Cisco WAAS Software is configured as CM use the show cms info command. The following example shows Cisco WAAS Software configured as CM:
  
  

  ciscowaas-cm#show cms info
  Device registration information :
  Device Id                            = 182
  Device registered as                 = WAAS Central Manager
  Current WAAS Central Manager role    = Primary
  
  CMS services information :
  Service cms_httpd is running
  Service cms_cdm is running

  Products Confirmed Not Vulnerable

  The following products running Cisco WAAS Software are not affected by this vulnerability:
  

  • Cisco WAAS Express (WAASx)
  • Cisco WAAS Mobile

  No other Cisco products are currently known to be affected by these vulnerabilities.

Details

• Cisco WAAS application acceleration and WAN optimization solutions accelerate the performance of any TCP-based application delivered across a WAN, providing the benefits of branch-office data consolidation and acceleration of centralized applications.
  
  Every WAAS network must have one primary WAAS CM device that is responsible for managing the other WAAS devices in the network. The Cisco WAAS CM device hosts the Cisco WAAS CM GUI, a web-based interface that allows configuration, management and monitoring of the associated Cisco WAAS devices.
  
  A vulnerability in the web service framework code of Cisco WAAS, when configured as Central Manager (CM) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on the affected system.
  
  The vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted POST request to the affected system. An exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code on the affected system. Due to the privileged function of the WAAS CM in the Cisco WAAS network, exploitation of this vulnerability could allow the attacker to gain administrative access to all the devices that have been associated to the vulnerable WAAS CM.
  
  Note: Only Cisco WAAS Software configured as CM is affected by this vulnerability.
  
  This vulnerability is documented in Cisco bug ID CSCuh26626 (registered customers only) and has been assigned Common Vulnerabilities and Exposure (CVE) ID CVE-2013-3443

Workarounds

• There are no workarounds that mitigate this vulnerability.

Fixed Software

• The following table lists the recommended releases for each Cisco WAAS Software major release:
  
  

  Major Releases	Recommended Release
  4.x	Not Available. Migrate to 5.x
  5.0.x	5.0.3e
  5.1.x	5.1.1c
  5.2.x	5.2.1

  
  Note: Cisco WAAS Sofware releases prior to 4.2.1 are not affected by this vulnerability.
  
  When considering software upgrades, customers are advised to consult the Cisco Security Advisories, Responses, and Notices archive at http://www.cisco.com/go/psirt and review subsequent advisories to determine exposure and a complete upgrade solution.

  In all cases, customers should ensure that the devices to be upgraded contain sufficient memory and confirm that current hardware and software configurations will continue to be supported properly by the new release. If the information is not clear, customers are advised to contact the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) or their contracted maintenance providers.

Exploitation and Public Announcements

• The Cisco Product Security Incident Response Team (PSIRT) is not aware of any public announcements or malicious use of the vulnerability that is described in this advisory.

  This vulnerability was found during the resolution of a support case.

URL

• http://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20130731-waascm

Revision History

• Revision 1.0

  2013-July-31

  Initial public release

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