CVE-2024-20478
Published: 28 August 2024
Summary
CVE-2024-20478 is a medium-severity Execution with Unnecessary Privileges (CWE-250) vulnerability in Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller. Its CVSS base score is 6.5 (Medium).
Operationally, ranked in the top 49.2% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2024-18193
Vulnerability details
A vulnerability in the software upgrade component of Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) and Cisco Cloud Network Controller, formerly Cisco Cloud APIC, could allow an authenticated, remote attacker with Administrator-level privileges to install a modified software image, leading to arbitrary…
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code injection on an affected system. This vulnerability is due to insufficient signature validation of software images. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by installing a modified software image. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code on the affected system and elevate their privileges to root. Note: Administrators should always validate the hash of any upgrade image before uploading it to Cisco APIC and Cisco Cloud Network Controller.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
No named actor attribution yet. ATT&CK technique mapping in progress for this CVE.
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Likely Mitigating Controls AI
Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.
Policy promotes least privilege by defining necessary privileges and management commitment to them.
Supervision detects and allows removal of unnecessary privileges that enable execution with excess rights.
Reviewing accounts for compliance, disabling/removing unneeded accounts, and aligning with termination processes prevents execution with unnecessary privileges.
Separation of duties prevents any single user from holding all privileges needed to complete a critical task, directly reducing execution with unnecessary privileges.
Directly prevents execution with more privileges than needed for assigned tasks.
Role-based training on least privilege principles reduces the chance personnel assign or retain unnecessary privileges.
Analysis of audit records can identify execution with unnecessary privileges through unusual activity patterns.
Automatic termination after a defined period eliminates unnecessary privileges from persistent connections.