Cisco Security Advisory: Multiple Vulnerabilities in the Cisco Wireless Control System

Vulnerable Products

Products Confirmed Not Vulnerable

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The Cisco Wireless Control System (WCS) works in conjunction with Cisco Aironet Lightweight Access Points, Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers, and the Cisco Wireless Location Appliance by providing tools for wireless LAN planning and design, system configuration, location tracking, security monitoring, and wireless LAN management. Cisco WCS contains the following vulnerabilities:

Fixed FTP Credentials For WCS Location Backup

WCS can be configured to back up the data stored on the Cisco Wireless Location Appliance via FTP. Affected versions of WCS include a fixed user name and password for this backup operation; these credentials cannot be changed or disabled. Knowledge of these credentials, when combined with other properties of the FTP server, could allow an attacker to read from and write to arbitrary files on the server hosting the WCS application. In some cases, this could be leveraged to alter system files and compromise the server. This vulnerability is documented by Cisco Bug ID CSCse93014 ( registered customers only) .

Account Group Privilege Escalation

The WCS authentication system contains a privilege escalation vulnerability that allows any user with a valid user name and password to change their account group membership. For example, a user in the "LobbyAmbassador" group can add themselves to the "SuperUsers" group. This privilege escalation can allow full administrative control of WCS and the wireless networks it manages. This vulnerability is documented by Cisco Bug IDs CSCse78596 and CSCsg05190 ( registered customers only) .

Information Disclosure to Unauthenticated Users

On affected versions of WCS, several directories within the WCS page hierarchy are not password protected and could be accessed by an unauthenticated user. Although the information available would not allow an attacker to gain access to WCS, it would be possible to obtain information about the organization of the network, including access point locations. This vulnerability is documented by Cisco Bug ID CSCsg04301 ( registered customers only) .

Vulnerability Scoring Details

Cisco is providing scores for the vulnerabilities in this advisory based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).

Cisco will provide a base and temporal score. Customers can then compute environmental scores to assist in determining the impact of the vulnerability in individual networks.

Cisco PSIRT will set the bias in all cases to normal. Customers are encouraged to apply the bias parameter when determining the environmental impact of a particular vulnerability.

CVSS is a standards based scoring method that conveys vulnerability severity and helps determine urgency and priority of response.

Cisco has provided an FAQ to answer additional questions regarding CVSS at http://www.cisco.com/web/about/security/intelligence/cvss-qandas.html.

Cisco has also provided a CVSS calculator to help compute the environmental impact for individual networks at http://intellishield.cisco.com/security/alertmanager/cvss.

CSCse93014 ( registered customers only) Calculate the environmental score of CSCse93014
CVSS Base Score - 10
Access Vector	Access Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality Impact	Integrity Impact	Availability Impact	Impact Bias
Remote	Low	Not Required	Complete	Complete	Complete	Normal
CVSS Temporal Score - 8.3
Exploitability		Remediation Level		Report Confidence
Functional		Official Fix		Confirmed

CSCse78596 ( registered customers only) Calculate the environmental score of CSCse78596
CVSS Base Score - 2.8
Access Vector	Access Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality Impact	Integrity Impact	Availability Impact	Impact Bias
Remote	Low	Required	Partial	Partial	None	Normal
CVSS Temporal Score - 2.3
Exploitability		Remediation Level		Report Confidence
Functional		Official Fix		Confirmed

CSCsg05190 ( registered customers only) Calculate the environmental score of CSCsg05190
CVSS Base Score - 6
Access Vector	Access Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality Impact	Integrity Impact	Availability Impact	Impact Bias
Remote	Low	Required	Complete	Complete	Complete	Normal
CVSS Temporal Score - 5
Exploitability		Remediation Level		Report Confidence
Functional		Official Fix		Confirmed

CSCsg04301 ( registered customers only) Calculate the environmental score of CSCsg04301
CVSS Base Score - 2.3
Access Vector	Access Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality Impact	Integrity Impact	Availability Impact	Impact Bias
Remote	Low	Not Required	Partial	None	None	Normal
CVSS Temporal Score - 1.9
Exploitability		Remediation Level		Report Confidence
Functional		Official Fix		Confirmed

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Successful exploitation of these vulnerabilities may result in the issues described in this section.

Fixed FTP Credentials for WCS Location Backup

CSCse93014: This vulnerability allows an authenticated attacker to utilize fixed credentials to read from and write to arbitrary files on the server hosting the WCS application. In some cases, the attacker could leverage this ability to gain privileged access to the host.

Account Group Privilege Escalation

CSCse78596: This vulnerability allows an authenticated attacker with a valid user account to access information from any WCS configuration page.

CSCsg05190: This vulnerability allows an authenticated attacker with a valid user account to escalate their privileges to the SuperUsers group.

Information Disclosure to Unauthenticated Users

CSCsg04301: This vulnerability allows an unauthenticated attacker to obtain reconnaissance information from an affected system.

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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.

Each row of the software table (below) describes the earliest software version that contains the fix (the "First Fixed Release") and the anticipated date of availability when fixes are not available. A device running a version that is earlier than the First Fixed Release is known to be vulnerable. The release should be upgraded at least to the indicated version (greater than or equal to the First Fixed Release label).

Note: Customers who currently run Cisco WCS 3.x are strongly encouraged to obtain a PAK certificate before they begin the upgrade process. For more information, please read the information under Special Note for Customers Upgrading to Cisco WCS Release 4.0.

Cisco Bug ID	First Fixed Release
CSCse93014	4.0.96.0
CSCse78596	4.0.81.0
CSCsg05190	4.0.87.0
CSCsg04301	4.0.66.0

Special Note for Customers Upgrading to Cisco WCS Release 4.0

To request a PAK certificate to upgrade customers or partners from a previous release of Cisco WCS to Release 4.0, contact the wcs-customer-license@cisco.com. Cisco will attempt to respond to requests to this alias within 48 hours Monday-Friday 9AM-5PM Pacific.

Note: This alias is only for issuing PAK certificates for Cisco WCS license upgrades. It is not for requesting TAC support, troubleshooting, ordering issues, or customer service issues.

Please include in the email to request the PAK certificate:

• Customer name
  
• Customer email
  
• Company name
  
• Exact Cisco WCS SKUs to be upgraded
  
• Quantity of each Cisco WCS SKU
  
• Cisco sales order number
  
• Service contract number (SAU/SASU)
  

For Technical Support Related to Licensing-Contact Cisco TAC at (800) 553-2447 tac@cisco.com.

For Licensing Order Related Issues-Contact Cisco customer service at http://www.cisco.com/go/customerservice.

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This section describes workarounds for these vulnerabilities.

Fixed FTP Credentials for WCS Location Backup

There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.

Account Group Privilege Escalation

As a workaround, customers can remove the accounts of users who access Cisco WCS from high-risk locations such as publicly accessible building lobbies.

Information Disclosure to Unauthenticated Users

There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.

Additional Workarounds

Additional mitigations that can be deployed on Cisco devices within the network are available in the Cisco Applied Mitigation Bulletin companion document for this advisory: http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/707/cisco-amb-20070412-wcs.shtml

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Cisco has made free software available to address this vulnerability for affected customers. 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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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The Cisco PSIRT is not aware of any public announcements or malicious use of the vulnerabilities described in this advisory.

These vulnerabilities were discovered via internal testing and during the investigation of customer support cases.

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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.

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This advisory is posted on Cisco's worldwide website at http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/707/cisco-sa-20070412-wcs.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.

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Revision 1.1	2007-April-14	Minor grammatical changes.
Revision 1.0	2007-April-12	Initial public release.

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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.

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