The warning about Cisco Firepower management software is rated critical among 26 other less urgent security advisories it issued. Credit: Thinkstock Amongst Cisco’s dump of 27 security advisories today only one was rated as critical – a vulnerability in its Firepower firewall system that could let an attacker bypass authentication and execute arbitrary actions with administrative privileges on a particular device. The Firepower Management Center (FMC) vulnerability – which was rated at 9.8 out of 10 – comes from improper handling of Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) authentication responses from an external authentication server. With it, an attacker could exploit the vulnerability by sending crafted HTTP requests to an affected device and gain administrative access to its web-based management interface. Cisco said the vulnerability affects its FMC Software if it is configured to authenticate users of the web-based management interface through an external LDAP server. Customers may install a fix either by upgrading to a software release that addresses the flaw or by installing a hotfix patch. A menu of fix options reads: Releases earlier than 6.1.0: Migrate to a 6.2.3 release and apply available hotfixes. 6.1.0: Apply the hotfix (Sourcefire_3D_Defense_Center_S3_Hotfix_ES-6.1.0.8-2.sh) or migrate to a 6.2.3 release and apply available hotfix. 2.0 through 6.2.2: Migrate to a 6.2.3 release and apply available hotfix. 2.3 or 6.3.0: Apply available hotfixes; maintenance releases will be available later this year. 4.0: Apply available hotfixes or upgrade to Release 6.4.0.7. 5.0: Upgrade to 6.5.0.2. A couple of the other security advisories were directed at Cisco’s SD-WAN package. The first involves a weakness in Cisco IOS XE SD-WAN Software that could let an unauthenticated, local attacker gain unauthorized access and completely control an affected device. The vulnerability is due to the existence of default credentials within the default configuration of an affected device, Cisco stated. An attacker who has access to an affected device could log in with elevated privileges. This vulnerability affects Cisco devices that are running Cisco IOS XE SD-WAN Software releases 16.11 and earlier. The second SD-WAN-related problem is in CLI of the Cisco SD-WAN Solution vManage software. An exploit could let the attacker elevate privileges to root-level privileges. The vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted file to the affected system. This vulnerability affects Cisco SD-WAN Solution vManage Software Release 18.4.1, Cisco stated. Cisco said it has released for both SD-WAN vulnerabilities. A couple of the other highly rated vulnerabilities were in Cisco’s implementation of Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) Ethernet VPN (EVPN) functionality in Cisco IOS XR Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition. The other vulnerabilities are due to incorrect processing of BGP update messages that contain crafted EVPN attributes. An attacker could exploit these vulnerabilities by sending BGP EVPN update messages with malformed attributes to be processed by an affected system. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the BGP process to restart unexpectedly, resulting in a DoS condition, Cisco stated. Cisco has released free software updates that address the vulnerabilities. Related content news Cisco steps up full-stack observability play with Splunk tie-ins Work has already begun to integrate Splunk, AppDynamics, and ThousandEyes as Cisco strengthens its observability lineup. By Michael Cooney Jun 07, 2024 5 mins Network Management Software Networking how-to Converting between uppercase and lowercase on the Linux command line Converting text between uppercase and lowercase can be very tedious, especially when you want to avoid inadvertent misspellings. Fortunately, Linux provides a handful of commands that can make the job very easy. By Sandra Henry Stocker Jun 07, 2024 5 mins Linux news Network jobs watch: Hiring, skills and certification trends What IT leaders need to know about expanding responsibilities, new titles and hot skills for network professionals and I&O teams. By Denise Dubie Jun 06, 2024 12 mins Careers Data Center Networking news Intel launches sixth-generation Xeon processor line With the new generation chips, Intel is putting an emphasis on energy efficiency. By Andy Patrizio Jun 06, 2024 3 mins CPUs and Processors Data Center PODCASTS VIDEOS RESOURCES EVENTS NEWSLETTERS Newsletter Promo Module Test Description for newsletter promo module. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe