Cisco Unified Communications Manager Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

A vulnerability in Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Unified CM) could allow an authenticated, local attacker to elevate privileges on the system.

The vulnerability is due to improper file permissions, environment variables, and relative paths in a privileged system script. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by modifying a system script, which could allow the attacker to gain complete control of the affected system.

Proof-of-concept code that demonstrates an exploit of this vulnerability is publicly available.

Cisco has confirmed the vulnerability in a security advisory and has released a temporary fix.

To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker requires authenticated access to the targeted system. Authenticated access may require the attacker to access trusted, internal networks. These access requirements could limit the likelihood of a successful exploit.

Cisco Unified CM version 8.0 reached the End of Software Maintenance on October 23, 2012. Customers using Cisco Unified CM 8.0(x) versions should contact their Cisco support team for assistance in upgrading to a supported version of Cisco Unified CM.

Cisco UCM is the only product confirmed to be vulnerable. Additional voice products may be affected by one or more of the individual vulnerabilities that are described in the advisory. The following products are being investigated but have not yet been confirmed as vulnerable:

 Cisco Emergency Responder
 Cisco Unified Contact Center Express
 Cisco Unified Customer Voice Portal
 Cisco Unified Presence Server/Cisco IM and Presence Service
 Cisco Unity Connection