CVE-2017-6709 Vulnerability Analysis & Exploit Details

CVE-2017-6709
Vulnerability Scoring

9.8
/10
Critical Risk

As a catastrophic security flaw, CVE-2017-6709 has severe implications, demanding immediate intervention.

Attack Complexity Details

  • Attack Complexity: Low
    Exploits can be performed without significant complexity or special conditions.
  • Attack Vector: Network
    Vulnerability is exploitable over a network without physical access.
  • Privileges Required: None
    No privileges are required for exploitation.
  • Scope: Unchanged
    Exploit remains within the originally vulnerable component.
  • User Interaction: None
    No user interaction is necessary for exploitation.

CVE-2017-6709 Details

Status: Modified

Last updated: 🕞 21 Nov 2024, 03:30 UTC
Originally published on: 🕛 06 Jul 2017, 00:29 UTC

Time between publication and last update: 2695 days

CVSS Release: version 3

CVSS3 Source

nvd@nist.gov

CVSS3 Type

Primary

CVSS3 Vector

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVE-2017-6709 Vulnerability Summary

CVE-2017-6709: A vulnerability in the AutoVNF tool for the Cisco Ultra Services Framework could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to access administrative credentials for Cisco Elastic Services Controller (ESC) and Cisco OpenStack deployments in an affected system. The vulnerability exists because the affected software logs administrative credentials in clear text for Cisco ESC and Cisco OpenStack deployment purposes. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by accessing the AutoVNF URL for the location where the log files are stored and subsequently accessing the administrative credentials that are stored in clear text in those log files. This vulnerability affects all releases of the Cisco Ultra Services Framework prior to Releases 5.0.3 and 5.1. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCvc76659.

Assessing the Risk of CVE-2017-6709

Access Complexity Graph

The exploitability of CVE-2017-6709 depends on two key factors: attack complexity (the level of effort required to execute an exploit) and privileges required (the access level an attacker needs).

Exploitability Analysis for CVE-2017-6709

With low attack complexity and no required privileges, CVE-2017-6709 is an easy target for cybercriminals. Organizations should prioritize immediate mitigation measures to prevent unauthorized access and data breaches.

Understanding AC and PR

A lower complexity and fewer privilege requirements make exploitation easier. Security teams should evaluate these aspects to determine the urgency of mitigation strategies, such as patch management and access control policies.

Attack Complexity (AC) measures the difficulty in executing an exploit. A high AC means that specific conditions must be met, making an attack more challenging, while a low AC means the vulnerability can be exploited with minimal effort.

Privileges Required (PR) determine the level of system access necessary for an attack. Vulnerabilities requiring no privileges are more accessible to attackers, whereas high privilege requirements limit exploitation to authorized users with elevated access.

CVSS Score Breakdown Chart

Above is the CVSS Sub-score Breakdown for CVE-2017-6709, illustrating how Base, Impact, and Exploitability factors combine to form the overall severity rating. A higher sub-score typically indicates a more severe or easier-to-exploit vulnerability.

CIA Impact Analysis

Below is the Impact Analysis for CVE-2017-6709, showing how Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability might be affected if the vulnerability is exploited. Higher values usually signal greater potential damage.

  • Confidentiality: High
    Exploiting CVE-2017-6709 can result in unauthorized access to sensitive data, severely compromising data privacy.
  • Integrity: High
    CVE-2017-6709 could allow unauthorized modifications to data, potentially affecting system reliability and trust.
  • Availability: High
    CVE-2017-6709 can disrupt system operations, potentially causing complete denial of service (DoS).

Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS)

The EPSS score estimates the probability that this vulnerability will be exploited in the near future.

EPSS Score: 0.388% (probability of exploit)

EPSS Percentile: 73.47% (lower percentile = lower relative risk)
This vulnerability is less risky than approximately 26.53% of others.

CVE-2017-6709 References

External References

CWE Common Weakness Enumeration

CWE-532

CAPEC Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification

  • Fuzzing for application mapping CAPEC-215 An attacker sends random, malformed, or otherwise unexpected messages to a target application and observes the application's log or error messages returned. The attacker does not initially know how a target will respond to individual messages but by attempting a large number of message variants they may find a variant that trigger's desired behavior. In this attack, the purpose of the fuzzing is to observe the application's log and error messages, although fuzzing a target can also sometimes cause the target to enter an unstable state, causing a crash.

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