CVE-2025-20125 - Improper Authorization

Severity

90%

Complexity

31%

Confidentiality

88%

A vulnerability in an API of Cisco ISE could allow an authenticated, remote attacker with valid read-only credentials to obtain sensitive information, change node configurations, and restart the node. This vulnerability is due to a lack of authorization in a specific API and improper validation of user-supplied data. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted HTTP request to a specific API on the device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to attacker to obtain information, modify system configuration, and reload the device. Note: To successfully exploit this vulnerability, the attacker must have valid read-only administrative credentials. In a single-node deployment, new devices will not be able to authenticate during the reload time.

CVSS 3.1 Base Score 9.1. CVSS Attack Vector: network. CVSS Attack Complexity: low. CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:H).

CVSS 3.1 Base Score 7.2. CVSS Attack Vector: network. CVSS Attack Complexity: low. CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).

Demo Examples

Improper Authorization

CWE-285

This function runs an arbitrary SQL query on a given database, returning the result of the query.


               
$employeeRecord = runEmployeeQuery('EmployeeDB',$_GET['EmployeeName']);
return $preparedStatement->fetchAll();//Use a prepared statement to avoid CWE-89
/.../

While this code is careful to avoid SQL Injection, the function does not confirm the user sending the query is authorized to do so. An attacker may be able to obtain sensitive employee information from the database.

Improper Authorization

CWE-285

The following program could be part of a bulletin board system that allows users to send private messages to each other. This program intends to authenticate the user before deciding whether a private message should be displayed. Assume that LookupMessageObject() ensures that the $id argument is numeric, constructs a filename based on that id, and reads the message details from that file. Also assume that the program stores all private messages for all users in the same directory.


               
DisplayPrivateMessage($id);
print "Body: " . encodeHTML($Message->{body}) . "\n";
# For purposes of this example, assume that CWE-309 and# CWE-523 do not apply.
ExitError("invalid username or password");

While the program properly exits if authentication fails, it does not ensure that the message is addressed to the user. As a result, an authenticated attacker could provide any arbitrary identifier and read private messages that were intended for other users.

One way to avoid this problem would be to ensure that the "to" field in the message object matches the username of the authenticated user.

Demo Examples

Missing Authorization

CWE-862

This function runs an arbitrary SQL query on a given database, returning the result of the query.


               
$employeeRecord = runEmployeeQuery('EmployeeDB',$_GET['EmployeeName']);
return $preparedStatement->fetchAll();//Use a prepared statement to avoid CWE-89
/.../

While this code is careful to avoid SQL Injection, the function does not confirm the user sending the query is authorized to do so. An attacker may be able to obtain sensitive employee information from the database.

Missing Authorization

CWE-862

The following program could be part of a bulletin board system that allows users to send private messages to each other. This program intends to authenticate the user before deciding whether a private message should be displayed. Assume that LookupMessageObject() ensures that the $id argument is numeric, constructs a filename based on that id, and reads the message details from that file. Also assume that the program stores all private messages for all users in the same directory.


               
DisplayPrivateMessage($id);
print "Body: " . encodeHTML($Message->{body}) . "\n";
# For purposes of this example, assume that CWE-309 and# CWE-523 do not apply.
ExitError("invalid username or password");

While the program properly exits if authentication fails, it does not ensure that the message is addressed to the user. As a result, an authenticated attacker could provide any arbitrary identifier and read private messages that were intended for other users.

One way to avoid this problem would be to ensure that the "to" field in the message object matches the username of the authenticated user.

Overview

First reported 5 months ago

2025-02-05 17:15:00

Last updated 3 months ago

2025-03-28 13:37:00

Affected Software

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)

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