A vulnerability in the Metadata update feature of Cisco Nexus Dashboard Insights could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to write arbitrary files to an affected system. This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of the metadata update file. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by crafting a metadata update file and manually uploading it to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to write arbitrary files to the underlying operating system as the root user. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker must have valid administrative credentials. Note: Manual uploading of metadata files is typical for Air-Gap environments but not for Cisco Intersight Cloud connected devices. However, the manual upload option exists for both deployments.

A vulnerability in Cisco Nexus Dashboard and Cisco Nexus Dashboard Insights could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to conduct a server-side request forgery (SSRF) attack through an affected device. This vulnerability is due to improper input validation for specific HTTP requests. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by persuading an authenticated user of the device management interface to click a crafted link. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to send arbitrary network requests that are sourced from the affected device to an attacker-controlled server. The attacker could then execute arbitrary script code in the context of the affected interface or access sensitive browser-based information.

A vulnerability in the configuration backup feature of Cisco Nexus Dashboard could allow an attacker who has the encryption password and access to Full or Config-only backup files to access sensitive information. This vulnerability exists because authentication details are included in the encrypted backup files. An attacker with a valid backup file and encryption password from an affected device could decrypt the backup file. The attacker could then use the authentication details in the backup file to access internal-only APIs on the affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system as the root user.

A vulnerability in Cisco Nexus Dashboard and Cisco Nexus Dashboard Insights could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to conduct a server-side request forgery (SSRF) attack through an affected device.This vulnerability is due to improper input validation for specific HTTP

A vulnerability in the backup restore functionality of Cisco Nexus Dashboard could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to conduct a path traversal attack on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of the contents of a backup file. An attacker with valid Administrator credentials could exploit this vulnerability by restoring a crafted backup file to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to gain root privileges on the underlying shell on the affected device.

A vulnerability in the SSH implementation of Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (NDFC) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to impersonate Cisco NDFC-managed devices. This vulnerability is due to insufficient SSH host key validation. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by performing a machine-in-the-middle attack on SSH connections to Cisco NDFC-managed devices, which could allow an attacker to intercept this traffic. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to impersonate a managed device and capture user credentials.

A vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco Nexus Dashboard and Cisco Nexus Dashboard hosted services could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to conduct a cross-site request forgery (CSRF) attack on an affected system. This vulnerability is due to insufficient CSRF protections for the web-based management interface on an affected system. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by persuading a user to click a malicious link. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to perform arbitrary actions with the privilege level of the affected user. If the affected user has administrative privileges, these actions could include modifying the system configuration and creating new privileged accounts. Note: There are internal security mechanisms in place that limit the scope of this exploit, reducing the Security Impact Rating of this vulnerability.

A vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco Nexus Dashboard and Cisco Nexus Dashboard hosted services could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to conduct a cross-site request forgery (CSRF) attack on an affected system.This vulnerability is due to

Summary

Log4j versions prior to 2.16.0 are subject to a remote code execution vulnerability via the ldap JNDI parser. As per Apache's Log4j security guide: Apache Log4j2 <=2.14.1 JNDI features used in configuration, log messages, and parameters do not protect against attacker controlled LDAP and other JNDI related endpoints. An attacker who can control log messages or log message parameters can execute arbitrary code loaded from LDAP servers when message lookup substitution is enabled. From log4j 2.16.0, this behavior has been disabled by default.

Log4j version 2.15.0 contained an earlier fix for the vulnerability, but that patch did not disable attacker-controlled JNDI lookups in all situations. For more information, see the Updated advice for version 2.16.0 section of this advisory.

Impact

Logging untrusted or user controlled data with a vulnerable version of Log4J may result in Remote Code Execution (RCE) against your application. This includes untrusted data included in logged errors such as exception traces, authentication failures, and other unexpected vectors of user controlled input.

Affected versions

Any Log4J version prior to v2.15.0 is affected to this specific issue.

The v1 branch of Log4J which is considered End Of Life (EOL) is vulnerable to other RCE vectors so the recommendation is to still update to 2.16.0 where possible.

Security releases Additional backports of this fix have been made available in versions 2.3.1, 2.12.2, and 2.12.3

Affected packages Only the org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-core package is directly affected by this vulnerability. The org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-api should be kept at the same version as the org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-core package to ensure compatability if in use.

Remediation Advice

Updated advice for version 2.16.0

The Apache Logging Services team provided updated mitigation advice upon the release of version 2.16.0, which disables JNDI by default and completely removes support for message lookups. Even in version 2.15.0, lookups used in layouts to provide specific pieces of context information will still recursively resolve, possibly triggering JNDI lookups. This problem is being tracked as CVE-2021-45046. More information is available on the GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2021-45046.

Users who want to avoid attacker-controlled JNDI lookups but cannot upgrade to 2.16.0 must ensure that no such lookups resolve to attacker-provided data and ensure that the the JndiLookup class is not loaded.

Please note that Log4J v1 is End Of Life (EOL) and will not receive patches for this issue. Log4J v1 is also vulnerable to other RCE vectors and we recommend you migrate to Log4J 2.16.0 where possible.