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[NEWS] Cisco Secure Access Control Server (ACS) Multiple DoS and Authent

Subject: [NEWS] Cisco Secure Access Control Server (ACS) Multiple DoS and Authentication Vulnerabilities
Date: 30 Aug 2004 16:46:48 +0200
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  Cisco Secure Access Control Server (ACS) Multiple DoS and Authentication 
Vulnerabilities
------------------------------------------------------------------------


SUMMARY

 <http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/secursw/ps2086/> Cisco Secure 
Access Control Server "for Windows (ACS Windows) and Cisco Secure Access 
Control Server Solution Engine (ACS Solution Engine) provide 
authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) services to network 
devices such as a network access server, Cisco PIX and a router".

This advisory documents multiple Denial of Service (DoS) and 
authentication related vulnerabilities for the ACS Windows and the ACS 
Solution Engine servers.

DETAILS

Vulnerable Systems:
 * Cisco Secure ACS versions 3.2(3) and earlier are vulnerable to 
CSCef05950 and CSCed81716
 * Cisco Secure ACS version 3.2(2) build 15 is vulnerable to CSCeb60017
 * Cisco Secure ACS version 3.2 is vulnerable to CSCec90317 and CSCec66913
 * Cisco Secure ACS is vulnerable to CSCed81716

Immune Systems:
 * Cisco Secure ACS for UNIX

Note: Successfully authenticate to your ACS box to determine your software 
revision. After you perform the authentication, the first screen displays 
the current ACS version in this format-CiscoSecure ACS Release 3.2(3) 
Build 11. ACS versions may also be displayed as 003.002(003.011), where 
"011" is the build number referenced on the ACS graphical user interface 
(GUI).

The vulnerabilities mentioned above are described in better detail in the 
following paragraphs:
 * CSCeb60017 and CSCec66913 - Cisco Secure ACS provides a Web-based 
management interface, termed CSAdmin, which listens on TCP port 2002. When 
flooded with TCP connections the ACS Windows and ACS Solution Engine stops 
responding to any new TCP connections destined for port 2002. 
Additionally, services on the ACS that process authentication related 
requests might become unstable and stop responding, which hampers the 
ability for ACS to process any authentication related requests. A reboot 
of the device is required to restore these services.

 * CSCec90317 - Cisco Secure ACS, when configured for Light Extensible 
Authentication Protocol (LEAP) RADIUS Proxy, forwards LEAP authentication 
requests to a secondary RADIUS server. The ACS device with LEAP RADIUS 
proxy configured may crash when LEAP authentication requests are being 
processed. A reboot is required to bring the device back to an operational 
state.

 * CSCed81716 - Cisco Secure ACS can communicate with external databases 
and authenticate users against those databases. One of the external 
databases that ACS supports is Novell Directory Services (NDS). If an 
anonymous bind in NDS is allowed, and if the ACS Solution Engine is 
authenticating NDS users with NDS as the external database and not Generic 
LDAP, then users are able to authenticate with blank passwords against 
that NDS database. However, wrong passwords and incorrect usernames are 
properly rejected.

 * CSCef05950 - Once a user successfully authenticates to the ACS GUI on 
TCP port 2002, a separate TCP connection is created between the browser 
and ACS administration Web service, with a random destination port. If an 
attacker spoofs the IP address of the user computer, and accesses the ACS 
GUI on this random port, then the attacker may be able to connect to the 
ACS GUI, bypassing authentication. Authentication to the ACS server may 
also be bypassed if the attacker is behind the same PAT device as that of 
the ACS user and accesses the ACS GUI on this random port.

Impact
 * CSCeb60017, CSCec66913, and CSCec90317 - These vulnerabilities may 
cause a crash impacting the availability of services on the ACS devices. 
Until the device is rebooted a DoS is the result.

 * CSCed81716 - This vulnerability may allow unauthorized users to access 
AAA clients without an effective password (using blank passwords) if the 
bind to the NDS database is anonymous.

 * CSCef05950 - This vulnerability may allow unauthenticated users to gain 
access to the ACS Administration GUI.

Patch Availability:
The above mentioned vulnerabilities have already been fixed by Cisco. 
Users are encouraged to perform upgrade procedures, as indicated:
 * ACS Windows version 3.3 -  
<http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/secursw/ps2086/prod_installation_guide09186a0080238b18.html#wp998991>
 
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/secursw/ps2086/prod_installation_guide09186a0080238b18.html#wp998991

 * ACS Windows 3.2 -  
<http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/secursw/ps2086/prod_installation_guide09186a0080184928.html#wp9472>
 
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/secursw/ps2086/prod_installation_guide09186a0080184928.html#wp9472

 * ACS Solution Engine -  
<http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/secursw/ps5338/products_user_guide_chapter09186a0080204d45.html#wp911224>
 
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/secursw/ps5338/products_user_guide_chapter09186a0080204d45.html#wp911224

Possible Workarounds:
 * Configure an IP address filter on ACS Windows and ACS Solution Engine 
to limit the exposure of these vulnerabilities. From within the ACS GUI, 
browse to Administration Control > Access Policy to limit access to only 
the machines that need to administer the ACS remotely.

 * Apply access control lists (ACLs) on routers, switches and firewalls 
that filter traffic to the ACS so that traffic is only allowed from 
stations that need to remotely administer the box. Refer to  
<http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/707/tacl.html> 
http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/707/tacl.html for examples on how to 
apply ACLs on Cisco routers.

 * As a best practice, use HTTPS to limit access to the Cisco ACS GUI. 
Issues detailed in CSCef05950 still exist when you use HTTP instead of 
HTTPS to access the Cisco ACS GUI.

Refer to  
<http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/access/acs_soft/csacs4nt/acs32/user02/a.htm#wp89030>
 
http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/access/acs_soft/csacs4nt/acs32/user02/a.htm#wp89030
 for information on how to set up an access policy on the Cisco ACS.


ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The information has been provided by  <mailto:psirt@cisco.com> Cisco 
Systems Product Security Incident Response Team.
The original article can be found at:  
<http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/707/cisco-sa-20040825-acs.shtml> 
http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/707/cisco-sa-20040825-acs.shtml



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