Cisco Patches High-Severity Vulnerability Affecting ASA and Firepower Solutions

A vulnerability in the Cisco Adaptive Security Device Manager (ASDM) Launcher could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on a user's operating system. This vulnerability is due to a lack of proper signature verification for specific code exchanged between the ASDM and the Launcher. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by leveraging a man-in-the-middle position on the network to intercept the traffic between the Launcher and the ASDM and then inject arbitrary code. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code on the user's operating system with the level of privileges assigned to the ASDM Launcher. A successful exploit may require the attacker to perform a social engineering attack to persuade the user to initiate communication from the Launcher to the ASDM.

A vulnerability in the logging component of Cisco Adaptive Security Device Manager (ASDM) could allow an authenticated, local attacker to view sensitive information in clear text on an affected system. Cisco ADSM must be deployed in a shared workstation environment for this issue to be exploited. This vulnerability is due to the storage of unencrypted credentials in certain logs. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by accessing the logs on an affected system. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to view the credentials of other users of the shared device.

A vulnerability in the VPN web client services component of Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to conduct browser-based attacks against users of an affected device. This vulnerability is due to improper validation of input that is passed to the VPN web client services component before being returned to the browser that is in use. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by persuading a user to visit a website that is designed to pass malicious requests to a device that is running Cisco ASA Software or Cisco FTD Software and has web services endpoints supporting VPN features enabled. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to reflect malicious input from the affected device to the browser that is in use and conduct browser-based attacks, including cross-site scripting attacks. The attacker could not directly impact the affected device.

A vulnerability in the CLI parser of Cisco FirePOWER Software for Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) FirePOWER module could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system of an affected ASA FirePOWER module as the root user. This vulnerability is due to improper handling of undefined command parameters. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by using a crafted command on the CLI or by submitting a crafted HTTPS request to the web-based management interface of the Cisco ASA that is hosting the ASA FirePOWER module. Note: To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker must have administrative access to the Cisco ASA. A user who has administrative access to a particular Cisco ASA is also expected to have administrative access to the ASA FirePOWER module that is hosted by that Cisco ASA.

A vulnerability in the packaging of Cisco Adaptive Security Device Manager (ASDM) images and the validation of those images by Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker with administrative privileges to upload an ASDM image that contains malicious code to a device that is running Cisco ASA Software. This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of the authenticity of an ASDM image during its installation on a device that is running Cisco ASA Software. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by installing a crafted ASDM image on the device that is running Cisco ASA Software and then waiting for a targeted user to access that device using ASDM. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code on the machine of the targeted user with the privileges of that user on that machine. Notes: To successfully exploit this vulnerability, the attacker must have administrative privileges on the device that is running Cisco ASA Software. Potential targets are limited to users who manage the same device that is running Cisco ASA Software using ASDM. Cisco has released and will release software updates that address this vulnerability.

A vulnerability in the handling of RSA keys on devices running Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to retrieve an RSA private key. This vulnerability is due to a logic error when the RSA key is stored in memory on a hardware platform that performs hardware-based cryptography. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by using a Lenstra side-channel attack against the targeted device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to retrieve the RSA private key. The following conditions may be observed on an affected device: This vulnerability will apply to approximately 5 percent of the RSA keys on a device that is running a vulnerable release of Cisco ASA Software or Cisco FTD Software; not all RSA keys are expected to be affected due to mathematical calculations applied to the RSA key. The RSA key could be valid but have specific characteristics that make it vulnerable to the potential leak of the RSA private key. If an attacker obtains the RSA private key, they could use the key to impersonate a device that is running Cisco ASA Software or Cisco FTD Software or to decrypt the device traffic. See the Indicators of Compromise section for more information on the detection of this type of RSA key. The RSA key could be malformed and invalid. A malformed RSA key is not functional, and a TLS client connection to a device that is running Cisco ASA Software or Cisco FTD Software that uses the malformed RSA key will result in a TLS signature failure, which means a vulnerable software release created an invalid RSA signature that failed verification. If an attacker obtains the RSA private key, they could use the key to impersonate a device that is running Cisco ASA Software or Cisco FTD Software or to decrypt the device traffic.