CVE-2024-42506 represents a series of unauthenticated remote code execution vulnerabilities in the underlying CLI (Command Line Interface) service that affects Aruba's Access Points management protocol, known as PAPI (Port Access Protocol Interface). These vulnerabilities have recently been discovered and can potentially enable an attacker to execute arbitrary code as a privileged user on the underlying operating system.

PAPI uses the UDP (User Datagram Protocol) port 8211 to communicate with network devices, such as switches and access points. According to the official Aruba report on these vulnerabilities, CLI is utilized for device administration, and unauthenticated command injection vulnerabilities are present in its implementation.

These command injection vulnerabilities primarily occur due to improper validation and sanitization of user-supplied input in the CLI service. Attackers can exploit these vulnerabilities by sending specially crafted packets destined to the PAPI UDP port (8211) on targeted network devices.

Exploit Details

To exploit CVE-2024-42506, an attacker needs to craft a malicious packet with specific payload that is designed to take advantage of the vulnerable CLI service. The payload can include shell commands, which will be executed by the system with root privileges. Here's an example of a hypothetical payload that attackers might use:

; echo 'evil_code' > /tmp/exploit.sh; chmod +x /tmp/exploit.sh; /tmp/exploit.sh

In this example, the payload first breaks out of the current command context (denoted by the semicolon), then proceeds to create a shell script(/tmp/exploit.sh) containing an arbitrary malicious code ('evil_code'). After creating the script, the payload grants execution permissions to it and runs the script.

Once an attacker successfully sends the malicious packet to the PAPI UDP port (8211) of a vulnerable network device running Aruba's CLI service, they can potentially execute arbitrary code with the privileges of a root user. This can result in unauthorized access, data manipulation, surveillance, network disruption, and other types of malicious activity.

Official References and Further Reading

Here are some official references and resources that provide additional information about these vulnerabilities:

1. Aruba's security advisory on the vulnerabilities: Aruba-SA-20240126
2. MITRE's CVE entry on the vulnerabilities: CVE-2024-42506
3. National Vulnerability Database (NVD) entry: NVD - CVE-2024-42506

To mitigate the risk associated with these vulnerabilities, Aruba recommends the following steps

1. Upgrade to the latest software versions: Aruba recommends upgrading to the latest ArubaOS software versions, which include security patches that fix these identified CLI service vulnerabilities. Information about the specific software versions affected and their fixed counterparts can be found in Aruba-SA-20240126 security advisory.
2. Restrict access to the PAPI UDP port (8211): Administrators should only allow trusted devices to connect to the PAPI UDP port and use network segmentation, access control lists, and firewall rules to limit the attack surface.

Finally, always following security best practices, such as regularly updating software, segmenting networks, enforcing access controls, and monitoring network traffic can greatly reduce the risks associated with potential vulnerabilities.

Timeline

Published on: 09/25/2024 01:15:42 UTC
Last modified on: 09/26/2024 13:32:02 UTC