Cisco Aironet 1800, 2800, and 3800 Series Access Point Platforms Shell Bypass Vulnerability

A vulnerability in login authentication management in Cisco Aironet 1800, 2800, and 3800 Series Access Point platforms could allow an authenticated, local attacker to gain unrestricted root access to the underlying Linux operating system. The root Linux shell is provided for advanced troubleshooting and should not be available to individual users, even those with root privileges. The attacker must have the root password to exploit this vulnerability.

The vulnerability occurs because of incorrect management of user credentials when the user authenticates to the device. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by authenticating to the affected device with the root account. An exploit could allow the authenticated, privileged attacker to bypass the controls required for root Linux shell access. If the authenticated user obtains root Linux shell access, further compromise may be possible.

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-20170405-aironet [“https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20170405-aironet”]