Products & Services

Document ID: 98605

http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/707/cisco-sr-20090114-http.shtml

Revision 3.1

Last Updated 2009 June 19 2000 UTC (GMT)

For Public Release 2009 January 14 1600 UTC (GMT)

Contents

Cisco Response
Additional Information
Status of this Notice: INTERIM
Revision History
Cisco Security Procedures

Cisco Response

Three separate Cisco IOS^® Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities and a cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability have been reported to Cisco by three independent researchers. ProCheckup has posted a Security Advisory titled "XSS on Cisco IOS HTTP Server" posted at http://www.procheckup.com/vulnerability_manager/vulnerabilities/pr08-19.

Cisco would like to thank Adrian Pastor and Richard J. Brain of ProCheckUp and Nobuhiro Tsuji of NTT Data Security Corporation with co-operation of JPCert.

This Cisco Security Response is posted at the following link: http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/707/cisco-sr-20090114-http.shtml.

Additional Information

This response covers three separate cross-site scripting vulnerabilities within the Cisco IOS Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) server (including HTTP secure server - here after referred to as purely HTTP Server) and a cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability and applies to all Cisco products that run Cisco IOS Software versions 11.0 through 12.4 with the HTTP server enabled for HTTP based IOS EXEC Server. A system that contains the IOS HTTP server or HTTP secure server, but does not have it enabled, is not affected.

To determine if the HTTP server is running on your device, issue the show ip http server status | include status and the show ip http server secure status | include status commands at the prompt and look for output similar to:

Router#show ip http server status | include status
HTTP server status: Enabled
HTTP secure server status: Enabled

If the device is not running the HTTP server, you should see output similar to:

Router#show ip http server status | include status
HTTP server status: Disabled
HTTP secure server status: Disabled

These vulnerabilities are documented in the following Cisco bug IDs:

• Cisco bug ID CSCsi13344 - XSS in IOS HTTP Server ( registered customers only)
  Special Characters are not escaped in URL strings sent to the HTTP server.
  
• Cisco bug ID CSCsr72301 - XSS in IOS HTTP Server (ping parameter) ( registered customers only)
  Special Characters are not escaped in URL strings sent to the HTTP server, via the ping parameter. The ping parameter is used both by external applications such as Router and Security Device Manager (SDM) as well as a direct HTTP session to Cisco IOS http server. This vulnerability affects 12.1E based trains and all Cisco IOS releases after 12.2(13)T.
  
• Cisco bug ID CSCsv05154 - Cisco IOS HTTP Server vulnerable to CSRF attacks ( registered customers only)
  The Cisco IOS HTTP server enabled with HTTP based IOS EXEC Server is vulnerable to Cross-Site Request Forgery attacks - which may allow malicious users to execute commands on the device through the web interface under the privileges of an already logged-in user.
  
• Cisco bug ID CSCsx49573 - XSS in Cisco IOS HTTP Server ( registered customers only)
  This is an extension to Cisco Bug ID CSCsi13344, which did not provide a complete fix against XSS attacks to the Cisco IOS HTTP Server enabled for HTTP based IOS EXEC Server.
  

These vulnerabilities are independent of each other. For a full solution, download a Cisco IOS version that contains the fixes for all Cisco bug IDs. These vulnerabilities have been assigned Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) identifier CVE-2008-3821.

Workaround:

Disable the HTTP Server

If the HTTP server is not used for any legitimate purposes on the device, it is a best practice to disable it by issuing the following commands in configure mode:

no ip http server
no ip http secure-server

Disable the HTTP WEB_EXEC Service

A feature was introduced in 12.3(14)T and later in which selective HTTP and HTTPS services could be enabled or disabled. The WEB_EXEC service provides a facility to configure the box and retrieve the current state of the box from remote clients.

It is possible to disable the WEB_EXEC service while still leaving other HTTP services active. If an installation does not require the use of the WEB_EXEC service, then it may be disabled using the following procedure:

1. Verify the list of all session modules.
   

   Router#show ip http server session-module 
   HTTP server application session modules: 
    Session module Name  Handle Status   Secure-status  Description 
   HTTP_IFS              1      Active   Active         HTTP based IOS File Server 
   HOME_PAGE             2      Active   Active         IOS Homepage Server 
   QDM                   3      Active   Active         QOS Device Manager Server 
   QDM_SA                4      Active   Active         QOS Device Manager Signed Applet Server 
   WEB_EXEC              5      Active   Active         HTTP based IOS EXEC Server 
   IXI                   6      Active   Active         IOS XML Infra Application Server 
   IDCONF                7      Active   Active         IDCONF HTTP(S) Server 
   XSM                   8      Active   Active         XML Session Manager 
   VDM                   9      Active   Active         VPN Device Manager Server 
   XML_Api               10     Active   Active         XML Api 
   ITS                   11     Active   Active         IOS Telephony Service 
   ITS_LOCDIR            12     Active   Active         ITS Local Directory Search 
   CME_SERVICE_URL       13     Active   Active         CME Service URL 
   CME_AUTH_SRV_LOGIN    14     Active   Active         CME Authentication Server 
   IPS_SDEE              15     Active   Active         IOS IPS SDEE Server 
   tti-petitioner        16     Active   Active         TTI Petitioner

2. Create a list of session modules that are required, in this example it would be everything other than WEB_EXEC.
   

   Router#configuration terminal
   Router(config)#ip http session-module-list exclude_webexec 
                HTTP_IFS,HOME_PAGE,QDM,QDM_SA,IXI,IDCONF,XSM,VDM,XML_Api,
                ITS,ITS_LOCDIR,CME_SERVICE_URL,CME_AUTH_SRV_LOGIN,IPS_SDEE,tti-petitioner
   

3. Selectively enable HTTP/HTTPS applications that will service incoming HTTP requests from remote clients.
   

   Router(config)#ip http active-session-modules exclude_webexec 
   Router(config)#ip http secure-active-session-modules exclude_webexec 
   Router(config)#exit 
   

4. Verify the list of all session modules, and ensure WEB_EXEC is not active.
   

   Router#show ip http server session-module 
   HTTP server application session modules: 
    Session module Name  Handle Status   Secure-status  Description 
   HTTP_IFS              1      Active   Active         HTTP based IOS File Server 
   HOME_PAGE             2      Active   Active         IOS Homepage Server 
   QDM                   3      Active   Active         QOS Device Manager Server 
   QDM_SA                4      Active   Active         QOS Device Manager Signed Applet Server 
   WEB_EXEC              5      Inactive Inactive       HTTP based IOS EXEC Server 
   IXI                   6      Active   Active         IOS XML Infra Application Server 
   IDCONF                7      Active   Active         IDCONF HTTP(S) Server 
   XSM                   8      Active   Active         XML Session Manager 
   VDM                   9      Active   Active         VPN Device Manager Server 
   XML_Api               10     Active   Active         XML Api 
   ITS                   11     Active   Active         IOS Telephony Service 
   ITS_LOCDIR            12     Active   Active         ITS Local Directory Search 
   CME_SERVICE_URL       13     Active   Active         CME Service URL 
   CME_AUTH_SRV_LOGIN    14     Active   Active         CME Authentication Server 
   IPS_SDEE              15     Active   Active         IOS IPS SDEE Server 
   tti-petitioner        16     Active   Active         TTI Petitioner 

For further information on selective enabling of applications using an HTTP or secure HTTP server, consult the Cisco IOS network management configuration guide, release 12.4T at: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/ios/netmgmt/configuration/guide/nm_http_app_enable.html

Access Control

If the HTTP server is required, it is a recommended best practice to control which hosts may access the HTTP server to only trusted sources. To control which hosts can access the HTTP server, you can apply an access list to the HTTP server. To apply an access list to the HTTP server, use the following command in global configuration mode:

 ip http access-class {access-list-number | access-list-name}

The following example shows an access list that allows only trusted hosts to access the Cisco IOS HTTP server:

ip access-list standard 20 
    permit 192.168.1.0 0.0.0.255
    remark "Above is a trusted subnet"
    remark "Add further trusted subnets or hosts below"


! (Note: all other access implicitly denied)
    ! (Apply the access-list to the http server)


    ip http access-class 20

For additional information on configuring the Cisco IOS HTTP server, consult Using the Cisco Web Browser User Interface.

For additional information on cross-site scripting attacks and the methods used to exploit these vulnerabilities, please refer to the Cisco Applied Mitigation Bulletin "Understanding Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) Threat Vectors", which is available at the following link: http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/707/cisco-amb-20060922-understanding-xss.shtml.

Further Problem Description:

This vulnerability is about escaping characters in the URL that are sent to the HTTP server. This vulnerability is different from the vulnerability reported in Cisco bug ID CSCsc64976 ( registered customers only) . The fix for this vulnerability is to escape special characters in the URL string echoed in the response generated by the web exec application.

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.

Cisco is currently patching these Cisco bug IDs into Cisco IOS software. To check on the latest versions with fixed releases please consult the Cisco Bug Toolkit http://tools.cisco.com/Support/BugToolKit/action.do?hdnAction=searchBugs or click on the Cisco Bug IDs within the Cisco Response section of this response.

Status of this Notice: INTERIM

Revision History

Cisco Security Procedures

Complete information on reporting security vulnerabilities in Cisco products, obtaining assistance with security incidents, and registering to receive security information from Cisco, is available on Cisco's worldwide website at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/products_security_vulnerability_policy.html. This includes instructions for press inquiries regarding Cisco security notices. All Cisco security advisories are available at http://www.cisco.com/go/psirt.