Cisco Security AdvisoryCritical
Advisory ID:
cisco-sa-20140521-waas
First Published:
2014 May 21 16:00 GMT
Version 1.0:
Workarounds:
Cisco Bug IDs:
CVSS Score:
Base 9.3,
Temporal 7.7
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AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C/E:F/RL:OF/RC:C
Click Icon to Copy Verbose Score
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C/E:F/RL:OF/RC:C
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A vulnerability in Cisco Wide Area Application Services (WAAS) software versions 5.1.1 through 5.1.1d, when configured with the SharePoint acceleration feature, could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to exploit a buffer overflow and cause arbitrary code execution.
The vulnerability is due to incorrect buffer handling for SharePoint responses. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by convincing a user to access a malicious SharePoint application. An exploit could allow the attacker to crash the application optimization handler and execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges on the WAAS appliance.
Cisco has released software updates that address this vulnerability. This advisory is available at the following link:
http://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20140521-waas
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Vulnerable Products
The following products running a vulnerable version of Cisco WAAS software and configured with the SharePoint prefetch option are affected by this vulnerability:
- Cisco WAAS appliances
- Cisco Virtual WAAS (vWAAS)
- Cisco WAAS modules
Note: Only Cisco WAAS software releases 5.1.1 through 5.1.1.d are affected by this vulnerability.
To determine whether the SharePoint prefetch option has been enabled do one of the following:
Check the output of sh run | include prefetch. If the command returns as shown in the following example, the prefetch option is enabled:waas_lab#sh run | include prefetch accelerator http sharepoint-opt prefetch enable
Check the output of the show accelerator http command and look for the SharePoint Prefetch line. The following output example demonstrates a system that has enabled the SharePoint Accelerator:waas_lab#show accelerator http Accelerator Licensed Config State Operational State ----------- -------- ------------ ----------------- http Yes Enabled Running HTTP: Accelerator Config Item Mode Value ----------------------- ---- ------ Suppress Server Encoding Default Disabled [...] Sharepoint Prefetch User Enabled [...]
Products Confirmed Not Vulnerable
The following products running Cisco WAAS software are not affected by this vulnerability:- Cisco WAAS Express (WAASx)
- Cisco WAAS Mobile
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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.
A vulnerability in the SharePoint prefetch optimization code of Cisco WAAS could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause the optimization process to crash and may allow arbitrary execution code on the affected system.
The vulnerability is due to a failure to properly validate certain types of requests. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by convincing a user to connect to a malicious SharePoint installation that could supply a malformed response to a user request that is optimized by an affected device. A successful attack could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code on the device with elevated privileges.
Note: Only Cisco WAAS software that is specifically configured with SharePoint prefetch optimization is affected by this vulnerability. This option is disabled by default.
This vulnerability is documented in Cisco bug ID CSCue18479 (registered customers only) and has been assigned Common Vulnerabilities and Exposure (CVE) ID CVE-2014-2196.
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There are no workarounds that mitigate this vulnerability.
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The following table lists the recommended releases for each Cisco WAAS software major release:
Major Releases
Recommended Release
4.x
Not affected
5.0.x Not affected
5.1.x 5.1.1e 5.2.x Not affected
5.3.x Not affected
Note: Only Cisco WAAS software releases 5.1.1 through 5.1.1.d are 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.
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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.
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To learn about Cisco security vulnerability disclosure policies and publications, see the Security Vulnerability Policy. This document also contains instructions for obtaining fixed software and receiving security vulnerability information from Cisco.
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Show LessRevision 1.0 2014-May-21 Initial public release.
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