Cisco Meeting Server Client Authentication Bypass Vulnerability

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Updated:October 12, 2016
Document ID:1476291478958799

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Cisco Security Advisory

Cisco Meeting Server Client Authentication Bypass Vulnerability

Critical
Advisory ID:
cisco-sa-20161012-msc
First Published:
2016 October 12 16:00 GMT
Version 1.0:
Final
Workarounds:
Yes
Cisco Bug IDs:
CSCvb62741
CVE-2016-6445
CVSS Score:
Base 6.4, Temporal 5.3Click Icon to Copy Verbose Score
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:N/E:F/RL:OF/RC:C
CVE-2016-6445

Summary

  • A vulnerability in the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) service of the Cisco Meeting Server (CMS) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to masquerade as a legitimate user. This vulnerability is due to the XMPP service incorrectly processing a deprecated authentication scheme. A successful exploit could allow an attacker to access the system as another user.

    Cisco has released software updates that address this vulnerability. Workarounds that address this vulnerability in some environments are available. This advisory is available at the following link:
    https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20161012-msc

Affected Products

  • Vulnerable Products

    Versions of the Cisco Meeting Server prior to 2.0.6 with XMPP enabled are affected by this vulnerability.

    Versions of the Acano Server prior to 1.8.18 and prior to 1.9.6 with XMPP enabled are also affected by this vulnerability.

    Administrators can check the system configuration from the command line interface (CLI) of the Cisco Meeting Server to determine if a device is affected. An administrator can determine if XMPP is enabled using the xmpp command and the software version can be identified using the version command.

    For example, the following command shows the version of a device running software version 2.0.6: 
    system> version
2_0_6
    And the following command shows a device with XMPP configured:
    system> xmpp status
Enabled                 : true
Clustered               : true
Domain                  : cisco.com
Listening interfaces    : a
Key file                : acano.key
Certificate file        : acano.crt
CA Bundle file          : ca-bundle.crt
Max sessions per user   : unlimited
STATUS                  : XMPP clustering (Follower)

    Products Confirmed Not Vulnerable

    No other Cisco products are currently known to be affected by this vulnerability.

Workarounds

  • Administrators are advised to apply appropriate updates. However, if the XMPP protocol is not needed, it can be disabled by an administrator with the xmpp disable command. In this case, the system will continue to support other protocols. The following example shows how to disable the XMPP protocol and verify that it is disabled. 
    system> xmpp disable

    system> xmpp status
    Enabled                 : false
    Clustered               : true
    Domain                  : cisco.com
    Listening interfaces    : a
    Key file                : acano.key
    Certificate file        : acano.crt
    CA Bundle file          : ca-bundle.crt
    Max sessions per user   : unlimited
    STATUS                  : XMPP server not enabled

Fixed Software

  • When considering software upgrades, customers are advised to consult the Cisco Security Advisories and Responses archive at http://www.cisco.com/go/psirt and review subsequent advisories 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.

    This vulnerability is fixed in the following firmware versions:
    • Acano Server version 1.8.18
    • Acano Server version 1.9.6
    • Cisco Meeting Server 2.0.6
    The firmware updates can be downloaded from the Software Center on Cisco.com by navigating to Products > Conferencing > Video Conferencing > Multiparty Conferencing > Meeting Server > Meeting Server 1000 > TelePresence Software.

    Acano software can be obtained from the software download section of the Acano website.

Exploitation and Public Announcements

  • 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.

Source

  • This vulnerability was discovered during a routine security audit of a Cisco customer.

Cisco Security Vulnerability Policy

  • 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.

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Revision History

  • Version Description Section Status Date
    1.0 Initial public release. — Final 2016-October-12
    Show Less

Cisco Security Vulnerability Policy

  • 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.

Subscribe to Cisco Security Notifications