Cisco security advisory

Number: AV19-087
Date: 8 May 2019

On 7 May 2019, Cisco released security updates to address a critical vulnerability affecting the Cisco Elastic Services Controller (ESC) product. The vulnerability stems from improper validation of requests made to the product’s REST API, which is a programmatic interface on the server allowing a remote client to query and run commands on the server. A remote, unauthenticated malicious actor could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted requests to the REST API, which could then be executed on the server with administrative privileges. The vulnerability affects ESC running software release 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, and 4.4 in conjunction with the REST API being enabled. Administrators can run the following command on the ESC to determine if the REST API is enabled:

sudo netstat -tlnup | grep '8443|8080'

Output after running the command indicates that the REST API is enabled.

CCCS encourages users and administrators to review the Cisco Security Advisory and apply the necessary updates:

https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20190507-esc-authbypass

Note to Readers

The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (Cyber Centre) operates as part of the Communications Security Establishment. We are Canada’s national authority on cyber security and we lead the government’s response to cyber security events. As Canada's national computer security incident response team, the Cyber Centre works in close collaboration with government departments, critical infrastructure, Canadian businesses and international partners to prepare for, respond to, mitigate, and recover from cyber events. We do this by providing authoritative advice and support, and coordinating information sharing and incident response. The Cyber Centre is outward-facing, welcoming partnerships that help build a stronger, more resilient cyber space in Canada.

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