Privilege escalation in Cisco StarOS Software

1) Credentials management

EUVDB-ID: #VU75372

Risk: Medium

CVSSv3.1: 7.7 [CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C]

CVE-ID: CVE-2023-20046

CWE-ID: CWE-255 - Credentials Management

Exploit availability: No

Description

The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to escalate privileges on the system.

The vulnerability exists due to insufficient validation of user-supplied credentials in the key-based SSH authentication feature. A remote user can send a valid low-privileged SSH key and log in to the affected device through SSH as a high-privileged user.

Mitigation

Install updates from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

Cisco StarOS: 21.22.0 - 21.28.m

Cisco ASR 5000 Series: All versions

Virtualized Packet Core - Distributed Instance (VPC-DI): All versions

Virtualized Packet Core - Single Instance (VPC-SI): All versions

External links

http://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-staros-ssh-privesc-BmWeJC3h

Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

Yes. This vulnerability can be exploited by a remote authenticated user via the Internet.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability.