Cisco Security Advisory
Cisco IOx Application Hosting Environment Privilege Escalation Vulnerability
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CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N/E:X/RL:X/RC:X
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A vulnerability in the on-device application development workflow feature for the Cisco IOx application hosting infrastructure in Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to access the underlying operating system as the root user.
This vulnerability exists because Docker containers with the privileged runtime option are not blocked when they are in application development mode. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by using the Docker CLI to access an affected device. The application development workflow is meant to be used only on development systems and not in production systems.
Cisco has released software updates that address this vulnerability. There are no workarounds that address this vulnerability.
This advisory is available at the following link:
https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-rdocker-uATbukKn
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Vulnerable Products
At the time of publication, this vulnerability affected the following Cisco devices if they were running a vulnerable release of Cisco IOS XE Software, were configured with the Cisco IOx application hosting environment, and had the application development workflow feature enabled:
- Catalyst IE3x00 Rugged Series Switches
- Catalyst IR1100 Rugged Series Routers
- Catalyst IR1800 Rugged Series Routers
- Catalyst IR8100 Heavy Duty Series Routers
- Catalyst IR8300 Rugged Series Routers
- Embedded Services 3300 Series Switches
Note: Cisco IOS XE Software releases 17.3.1 and later support the application development workflow feature.
For information about which Cisco software releases were vulnerable at the time of publication, see the Fixed Software section of this advisory. See the Details section in the bug ID(s) at the top of this advisory for the most complete and current information.
The application development workflow feature is not enabled by default. Because the application development workflow can run containers by bypassing, and is therefore invisible to, the Local Manager or IOx Management Application, it is meant to be used only on development systems and not in production systems.
Determine Whether Application Development Workflow is Enabled
To determine whether the application development workflow is enabled, log in to the IOx Local Manager Application and choose the Remote Docker Workflow tab. If Remote Docker Access is enabled appears in red, the application development workflow is enabled.
Products Confirmed Not Vulnerable
Only products listed in the Vulnerable Products section of this advisory are known to be affected by this vulnerability.
Cisco has confirmed that this vulnerability does not affect Cisco IC3000 Industrial Compute Gateways.
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There are no workarounds that address this vulnerability.
However, as a mitigation, customers may disable the application development workflow feature in production. The application development workflow is meant to be used only on development systems and not in production systems.
While this mitigation has been deployed and was proven successful in a test environment, customers should determine the applicability and effectiveness in their own environment and under their own use conditions. Customers should be aware that any workaround or mitigation that is implemented may negatively impact the functionality or performance of their network based on intrinsic customer deployment scenarios and limitations. Customers should not deploy any workarounds or mitigations before first evaluating the applicability to their own environment and any impact to such environment.
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When considering software upgrades, customers are advised to regularly consult the advisories for Cisco products, which are available from the Cisco Security Advisories page, to determine exposure and a complete upgrade solution.
In all cases, customers should ensure that the devices to be upgraded contain sufficient memory and confirm that current hardware and software configurations will continue to be supported properly by the new release. If the information is not clear, customers are advised to contact the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) or their contracted maintenance providers.
Fixed Releases
At the time of publication, the release information in the following table was accurate. See the Details section in the bug ID(s) at the top of this advisory for the most complete and current information.
Cisco Platform First Fixed Release IOS XE-based devices configured with IOx 17.3.8 (Oct 2023)
17.6.6
17.9.5 (Oct 2023)
17.13.1 (Dec 2023)
For more information, see the Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software Checker in the next section.The Cisco Product Security Incident Response Team (PSIRT) validates only the affected and fixed release information that is documented in this advisory.
Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software
To help customers determine their exposure to vulnerabilities in Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software, Cisco provides the Cisco Software Checker. This tool identifies any Cisco security advisories that impact a specific software release and the earliest release that fixes the vulnerabilities that are described in each advisory (“First Fixed”). If applicable, the tool also returns the earliest release that fixes all the vulnerabilities that are described in all the advisories that the Software Checker identifies (“Combined First Fixed”).
To use the tool, go to the Cisco Software Checker page and follow the instructions. Alternatively, use the following form to determine whether a release is affected by any Cisco Security Advisory. To use the form, follow these steps:
- Choose which advisories the tool will search-only this advisory, only advisories with a Critical or High Security Impact Rating (SIR), or all advisories.
- Enter a release number-for example, 15.9(3)M2 or 17.3.3.
- Click Check.
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The Cisco PSIRT is aware that proof-of-concept exploit code is available for the vulnerability that is described in this advisory.
The Cisco PSIRT is not aware of any malicious use of the vulnerability that is described in this advisory.
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Cisco would like to thank Christian Petersen and Jens A. Nelsen of the En Garde Security/ICS Range research team for reporting this vulnerability.
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To learn about Cisco security vulnerability disclosure policies and publications, see the Security Vulnerability Policy. This document also contains instructions for obtaining fixed software and receiving security vulnerability information from Cisco.
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Show LessVersion Description Section Status Date 1.0 Initial public release. - Final 2023-OCT-04
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