Cisco IOS XE Software Digital Signature Verification Bypass Vulnerability

A vulnerability in the Image Verification feature of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to install and boot a malicious software image or execute unsigned binaries on an affected device.

The vulnerability exists because, under certain circumstances, an affected device can be configured to not verify the digital signatures of system image files during the boot process. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by abusing a specific feature that is part of the device boot process. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to install and boot a malicious software image or execute unsigned binaries on the targeted device.

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-20190925-iosxe-digsig-bypass [“https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20190925-iosxe-digsig-bypass”]

This advisory is part of the September 25, 2019, release of the Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software Security Advisory Bundled Publication, which includes 12 Cisco Security Advisories that describe 13 vulnerabilities. For a complete list of the advisories and links to them, see Cisco Event Response: September 2019 Semiannual Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software Security Advisory Bundled Publication [“https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/viewErp.x?alertId=ERP-72547”].