Vulnerabilities

Code Execution Flaw Found in Cisco Firepower Device Manager On-Box Software

Cisco has addressed a vulnerability in the Firepower Device Manager (FDM) On-Box software that could be exploited to gain code execution on vulnerable devices.

FDM On-Box is used to configure Cisco Firepower firewalls, providing administrators with both management and diagnostics capabilities.

Ionut Arghire

August 3, 2021

Cisco has addressed a vulnerability in the Firepower Device Manager (FDM) On-Box software that could be exploited to gain code execution on vulnerable devices.

FDM On-Box is used to configure Cisco Firepower firewalls, providing administrators with both management and diagnostics capabilities.

Tracked as CVE-2021-1518 and rated medium severity, the remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability was discovered by Positive Technologies security researchers Nikita Abramov and Mikhail Klyuchnikov in the REST API of FDM On-Box. The flaw exists because user input on specific commands isn’t sufficiently sanitized.

To exploit the vulnerability, an attacker needs to send a special HTTP request to the API subsystem of a vulnerable device. Successful exploitation would result in the attacker being able to execute arbitrary code on the underlying operating system.

The issue has a CVSS score of 6.3, as it requires for the attacker to have valid user credentials to the affected device.

“To exploit this vulnerability, all attackers need to do is to obtain credentials of a user with low privileges and send a specially crafted HTTP request. From a technical standpoint, the vulnerability is caused by insufficient user input validation for some REST API commands,” Abramov said.

The bug impacts FDM On-Box versions 6.3.0, 6.4.0, 6.5.0, 6.6.0, and 6.7.0. Cisco addressed the issue with the release of software versions 6.4.0.12, 6.4.4, and 6.7.0.2.

Cisco says it’s not aware of the vulnerability being exploited in the wild.

Written By Ionut Arghire

Ionut Arghire is an international correspondent for SecurityWeek.

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