A vulnerability in the account management subsystem of Cisco Web Security Appliance (WSA) could allow an authenticated, local attacker to elevate privileges to root. The attacker must authenticate with valid administrator credentials. The vulnerability is due to improper implementation of access controls. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by authenticating to the device as a specific user to gain the information needed to elevate privileges to root in a separate login shell. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to escape the CLI subshell and execute system-level commands on the underlying operating system as root. There are no workarounds that address this vulnerability. This advisory is available at the following link: https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20180815-wsa-escalation
A vulnerability in the account management subsystem of Cisco Web Security Appliance (WSA) could allow an authenticated, local attacker to elevate privileges to root. The attacker must authenticate with valid administrator credentials.
The vulnerability is due to improper implementation of access controls. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by authenticating to the device as a specific user to gain the information needed to elevate privileges to root in a separate login shell. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to escape the CLI subshell and execute system-level commands on the underlying operating system as root.
There are no workarounds that address this vulnerability.
This advisory is available at the following link:
https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20180815-wsa-escalation
Only products listed in the Vulnerable Products section of this advisory are known to be affected by this vulnerability.
Cisco has confirmed that this vulnerability does not affect the following Cisco products:
There are no workarounds that address this vulnerability.
For information about fixed software releases, consult the Cisco bug ID(s) at the top of this advisory.
When considering software upgrades, customers are advised to regularly consult the advisories for Cisco products, which are available from the Cisco Security Advisories and Alerts page, to determine exposure and a complete upgrade solution.
In all cases, customers should ensure that the devices to be upgraded contain sufficient memory and confirm that current hardware and software configurations will continue to be supported properly by the new release. If the information is not clear, customers are advised to contact the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) or their contracted maintenance providers.
The Cisco Product Security Incident Response Team (PSIRT) is not aware of any public announcements or malicious use of the vulnerability that is described in this advisory.
This vulnerability was found during internal security testing.
To learn about Cisco security vulnerability disclosure policies and publications, see the Security Vulnerability Policy. This document also contains instructions for obtaining fixed software and receiving security vulnerability information from Cisco.
| Version | Description | Section | Status | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | Initial public release. | - | Final | 2018-August-15 |
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