CVE-2017-12340 Security feature bypass in Cisco Multilayer Director, Nexus 7000 Series, and Nexus 7700 Series Switches

Medium 4.2 Published Updated

Authenticated local attackers can bypass Bash shell restrictions and execute arbitrary commands via Python sandbox escape on Cisco switches.

Exploited in the wild
Not known
Login needed
An administrator
Attackable
Local or same network only
Victim action needed
Not needed
Fix
None listed

What is CVE-2017-12340?

CVE-2017-12340 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Cisco Nx-Os, published on 30 Nov 2017. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

Official description

A vulnerability in Cisco NX-OS System Software running on Cisco MDS Multilayer Director Switches, Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Switches, and Cisco Nexus 7700 Series Switches could allow an authenticated, local attacker to access the Bash shell of an affected device's operating system, even if the Bash shell is disabled on the system. The vulnerability is due to insufficient sanitization of user-supplied parameters that are passed to certain functions of the Python scripting sandbox of the affected system. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to escape the scripting sandbox and enter the Bash shell of the operating system with the privileges of the authenticated user for the affected system. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker must have local access to the affected system and be authenticated to the affected system with administrative or Python execution privileges. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCvd86513.

Weakness: CWE-116, CWE-284

Which versions are affected by CVE-2017-12340?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Cisco Nx-Os.

How do I fix CVE-2017-12340?

No fix has been published for CVE-2017-12340 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

Is CVE-2017-12340 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-12340 in the wild and no public exploit code.

All Cisco Nx-Os vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as GHSA-7fgx-h5gw-66x7.

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