Summary

• Versions of the Cisco Application Velocity System (AVS) prior to software version AVS 5.1.0 do not prompt users to modify system account passwords during the initial configuration process. Because there is no requirement to change these credentials during the initial configuration process, an attacker may be able to leverage the accounts that have default credentials, some of which have root privileges, to take full administrative control of the AVS system.

  After upgrading to software version AVS 5.1.0, users will be prompted to modify these credentials.

  Cisco will make free upgrade software available to address this vulnerability for affected customers. The software upgrade will be applicable only for the AVS 3120, 3180, and 3180A systems. The workaround identified in this document describes how to change the passwords in current releases of software for the AVS 3110.

  Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) identifier CVE-2008-0029 has been assigned to this vulnerability.

  This advisory is posted at https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20080123-avs.

Affected Products

• Vulnerable Products

  This vulnerability affects the Cisco AVS 3110, 3120, 3180, and 3180A Management Station appliances that are running software versions prior to AVS 5.1.0. Administrators can determine the software version of the AVS appliances by logging in to the Management Station web-based user interface or from the command-line interface (CLI) of the appliance operating system.

  Customers who use the AVS 3180 or 3180A Management Station can determine their node software versions by navigating to the Cluster Information Page. Each registered node will display the corresponding software version when the node is selected.

  The AVS appliance version can also be determined from the host operating system by using the Show Version command.

  The following example shows Show Version output for an AVS 3120 appliance that is running version 5.1.0:

  velocity>Show Version
  
  ****************************************
  Cisco Application Velocity System,(AVS)
  ----------------------------------------
  AVS 3120-K9 005.001(000.034)
  ****************************************

  The following example shows Show Version output for an AVS 3180 or 3180A appliance that is running version 5.1.0:

  velocity>Show Version
  
  ****************************************
  Cisco Application Velocity System,(AVS)
  ----------------------------------------
  AVS 3180-MGMT 005.001(000.034)
  ****************************************

  Products Confirmed Not Vulnerable

  No other Cisco products are currently known to be affected by this vulnerability.

Details

• The Cisco AVS 3110 and 3120 are enterprise data center appliances for improving web application performance, measuring end-user response time, and managing application security. The Cisco AVS 3120 enforces application security with an integrated web application firewall. The Cisco AVS 3180 and 3180A Management Stations provide web-based tools for the configuration and application performance monitoring for a cluster of AVS 3110s and 3120s or individual nodes.

  The Cisco AVS 3110, 3120, 3180, and 3180A Management Stations use some system accounts that are initially configured with default passwords. Vulnerable versions of the AVS software do not prompt the administrator to change the passwords for these accounts, including accounts with root privileges, during the initial configuration process. Non-vulnerable versions of AVS software will now prompt administrators to change these accounts after installation.

  Note: If the passwords for the AVS 3110 or 3120 are changed on the device itself and it has previously been registered with an AVS 3180 or 3180A Management Station, the node must be re-registered with the Management Station console. Otherwise, communication between the AVS 3180 or 3180A Management Station and AVS 3110 or 3120 node will be lost.

  For additional details about the AVS node registration process, refer to the Register Node section of the Cisco AVS User's Guide.

  After upgrading the appliance software to version AVS 5.1.0 and logging in for the first time, the administrator will now be prompted to change the system account passwords.

  The following example shows the new password change prompts and the subsequent password change dialog for the AVS 3120 after upgrade:

  velocity login: fgn
  Password:
  **WARNING** System wide secrets are in factory default state.
  Would you like to change these now? [y/n] y changing root password 
  enter password: 
  enter password again: 
  changing fgn password
  enter password: 
  enter password again: 
  changing DB password
  enter password: 
  enter password again: 
  
  Please wait...The DB password change will take a few minutes.
  changing node manager password
  enter password: 
  enter password again: 
  changing condenser password
  enter password: 
  enter password again: 
  changing console password
  enter password: 
  enter password again: 

  The following example shows the new password change prompts and the subsequent password change dialog for the AVS 3180 and 3180A after upgrade:

  velocity login: fgn
  Password: 
  **WARNING** System wide secrets are in factory default state.
  Would you like to change these now? [y/n] y changing root password 
  enter password: 
  enter password again: 
  changing fgn password
  enter password: 
  enter password again: 
  changing DB password
  enter password: 
  enter password again: 
  
  Please wait...The DB password change will take a few minutes.
  changing console password
  enter password: 
  enter password again:

  This issue is documented in Cisco Bug ID CSCsd94732 ( registered customers only) .

Workarounds

• The following workarounds are applicable only for the AVS 3110 and are performed on the system shell. The AVS 3110 does not have a CLI. The use of strong passwords is encouraged.

  Changing the Root Password

  Complete these steps:

  1. Change the root password by using the following command:

     shell# passwd

  2. Reboot to activate the new settings by using the following command:

     shell# reboot

  Changing the Management Console Username and Password

  Complete these steps:

  1. Open the following file in a text editor:

     $AVS_HOME/console/jboss-3.0.1_tomcat-4.0.4/server/default/deploy/fgconsole.war/users.properties

     Use the line admin=admin to set the username and password. The username appears before the equal sign (=) and the password appears after the equal sign (=). For example, to change the username to Cisco and the password to accelerate, change the admin=admin line to Cisco=accelerate.

  2. If you change the username, you must also change this file:

     $AVS_HOME/console/jboss-3.0.1_tomcat-4.0.4/server/default/deploy/fgconsole.war/roles.properties

     The username is set by the line that contains admin=. The username appears before the equal sign (=). For example, to change the user name to Cisco, change the admin= line to Cisco=. Do not change the text after the equal sign (=) in this file; this field specifies the account privileges. The username that you enter here must match the one in the users.properties file in the preceding step.

  Changing the Database Username and Password

  There are two steps required to change the database password:

  1. First change the database password.
     
  2. Then update the Management Console configuration file with the new database password.
     

  Complete these steps:

  1. Log in to the database using the old password, and then use the alter SQL command to change to the new password.

     /usr/local/fineground/console/postgres/bin/psql
     		 -U fineground -p 5432 fgnlog Password : <old password>
     Welcome to psql 7.3.4, the PostgreSQL interactive terminal.
     
     Type:  \copyright for distribution terms
            \h for help with SQL commands
            \? for help on internal slash commands
            \g or terminate with semicolon to execute query
            \q to quit
     fgnlog=# alter user fineground password '<new password>'; \q

  2. The username and password to access the Management Console database are set during the Management Console installation process. If you want to change these later, you can modify an XML configuration file that the Management Console server reads at start-up.

     1. Open the following file in a text editor:

        $AVS_HOME/console/jboss-3.0.1_tomcat-4.0.4/server/default/deploy/postgres-service.xml

        Look for the following section in this file:

        <!--set these only if you want only default logins,
        		   not through JAAS -->
        <config-property name="UserName" type="java.lang.String">fineground</config-property>
        <config-property name="Password" type="java.lang.String">condenser</config-property>

     2. To change the username, change the value for the UserName configuration property (fineground in this example).

     3. To change the password, change the value for the Password configuration property (condenser in this example).

     4. Save and close the file.

  Changing the Node Manager Password

  Complete these steps:

  1. Log in as fgn, and then use the su command to switch to the superuser.

  2. Stop the Condenser and Node Manager:

     /etc/init.d/fgnpn<Tab> stop

     Press Tab to have the interface complete the command.

  3. Go to the $AVS_HOME/perfnode/node_manager/conf directory.

  4. Back up the file named passwords.

  5. Change the password with the following command:

     $AVS_HOME/perfnode/bin/htpasswd -bcm passwords.new admin <password>

     In the preceding command, passwords.new is the name of the file in which the passwords are stored. Currently only the user admin is supported.

  6. Install the file with the following command:

     install -m 400 -o nobody -g nobody passwords.new  passwords

  7. Restart the appliance with the reboot command.

  8. Re-register the node from the Management Console for which the node manager password was changed.

  Changing the Condenser Password

  Complete these steps:

  1. Log in as fgn, and then use the su command to switch to the superuser.

  2. Stop the Condenser and Node Manager:

     /etc/init.d/fgnpn<TAB> stop

     Press Tab to have the interface complete the command.

  3. Go to the $AVS_HOME/perfnode/passwd directory.

  4. Backup the file named .htpasswd.

  5. Change the password with the following command:

     $AVS_HOME/perfnode/bin/htpasswd -bcm passwords.new fineground <password>

     In the preceding command, passwords.new is the name of the file in which the passwords are stored. Currently only the user fineground is supported.

  6. Install the file with the following command:

     install -m 400 -o nobody -g nobody passwords.new  .htpasswd

  7. Restart the appliance with the reboot command.

  8. Re-register the node from the Management Console for which the Condenser password was changed.

Fixed Software

• 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.

  AVS software version 5.1.0 contains the fix for the vulnerability described in this document.

  AVS software is available for download from the following locations on cisco.com:

  • AVS 3120 5.1.0 ( registered customers only)
    
  • AVS 3180 5.1.0 ( registered customers only)
    

Exploitation and Public Announcements

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

  This vulnerability was identified through internal testing.

URL

• https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20080123-avs

Revision History

• Revision 1.0

  2008-January-23

  Initial public release

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