Cisco ASA Authenticated Linux Shell Access Vulnerability

A vulnerability in the Virtual Network Management Center (VNMC) policy code of Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to access the underlying Linux operating system with the privileges of the root user.

The vulnerability is due to insufficient sanitization of user supplied input. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by logging in to an affected system as administrator, copying a malicious script onto the disk, and executing the script.

Cisco has confirmed the vulnerability in a security advisory and released software updates.

To exploit the vulnerability, the attacker must log in locally to the affected device with administrative privileges. The required privileges greatly reduce the potential for exploitation.