Cisco IOS XR Software SSH Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

A vulnerability in the SSH client feature of Cisco IOS XR Software for Cisco 8000 Series Routers and Cisco Network Convergence System (NCS) 540 Series and 5700 Series Routers could allow an authenticated, local attacker to elevate privileges on an affected device.

This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of arguments that are included with the SSH client CLI command. An attacker with low-privileged access to an affected device could exploit this vulnerability by issuing a crafted SSH client command to the CLI. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to elevate privileges to root on the affected 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-iosxr-ssh-privesc-eWDMKew3 [“https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-iosxr-ssh-privesc-eWDMKew3”]

This advisory is part of the March 2024 release of the Cisco IOS XR Software Security Advisory Bundled Publication. For a complete list of the advisories and links to them, see Cisco Event Response: September 2023 Semiannual Cisco IOS XR Software Security Advisory Bundled Publication [“https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/viewErp.x?alertId=ERP-75241”].