Re: SYMSA-2006-003: Cisco Secure ACS for Windows - AdministratorPassword Disclosure
Does this include the ACS appliance engine.
Greg Owens, CCNP CCSP CISSP
Email:gowens@xxxxxxxxx
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-----Original Message-----
>From: "Matthew Cerha"<mcerha@xxxxxxxxx>
>Sent: 5/8/06 6:15:58 PM
>To: "bugtraq@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"<bugtraq@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>Cc: "research@xxxxxxxxxxxx"<research@xxxxxxxxxxxx>, "psirt (mailer
list)"<psirt@xxxxxxxxx>
>Subject: Re: SYMSA-2006-003: Cisco Secure ACS for Windows -
AdministratorPassword Disclosure
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>Cisco Response
>==============
>
>This is Cisco PSIRT's response to the statements made by Symantec in
>its advisory: SYMSA-2006-003, posted on May 8, 2006.
>
>The original email/advisory is available at:
>
>http://www.symantec.com/enterprise/research/SYMSA-2006-003.txt
>
>This issue is being tracked by Cisco Bug ID:
>
> * CSCsb67457 ( registered customers only) -- Cisco Secure ACS
> Administrator Password Remote Retrieval and Decryption.
>
>We would like to thank Andreas Junestam and Symantec for reporting
>this vulnerability to us.
>
>We greatly appreciate the opportunity to work with researchers on
>security vulnerabilities, and welcome the opportunity to review and
>assist in product reports.
>
>Additional Information
>======================
>
>Cisco Secure Access Control Server (ACS) provides centralized
>identity management and policy enforcement for Cisco devices.
>
>CSCsb67457 ( registered customers only) -- Cisco Secure ACS
>Administrator Password Remote Retrieval and Decryption.
>
>Symptom:
>
>A person with administrative access to the Windows registry of a
>system running Cisco Secure ACS 3.x for Windows can decrypt the
>passwords of all ACS administrators.
>
>Condition:
>
>Cisco Secure ACS 3.x for Windows stores the passwords of ACS
>administrators in the Windows registry in an encrypted format. A
>locally generated master key is used to encrypt/decrypt the ACS
>administrator passwords. The master key is also stored in the Windows
>registry in an encrypted format. Using Microsoft cryptographic
>routines, it is possible for a user with administrative privileges to
>a system running Cisco Secure ACS to obtain the clear-text version of
>the master key. With the master key, the user can decrypt and obtain
>the clear-text passwords for all ACS administrators. With
>administrative credentials to Cisco Secure ACS, it is possible to
>change the password for any locally defined users. This may be used
>to gain access to network devices configured to use Cisco Secure ACS
>for authentication.
>
>If remote registry access is enabled on a system running Cisco Secure
>ACS, it is possible for a user with administrative privileges
>(typically domain administrators) to exploit this vulnerability.
>
>If Cisco Secure ACS is configured to use an external authentication
>service such as Windows Active Directory / Domains or LDAP, the
>passwords for users stored by those services are not at risk to
>compromise via this vulnerability.
>
>This vulnerability only affects version 3.x of Cisco Secure ACS for
>Windows. Cisco Secure ACS for Windows 4.0.1 and Cisco Secure ACS for
>UNIX are not vulnerable. Cisco Secure ACS 3.x appliances do not
>permit local or remote Windows registry access and are not
>vulnerable.
>
>Workaround:
>
>It is possible to mitigate this vulnerability by restricting access
>to the registry key containing the ACS administrators' passwords. One
>feature of Windows operating systems is the ability to modify the
>permissions of a registry key to remove access even for local or
>domain administrators. Using this feature, the registry key
>containing the ACS administrators' passwords can be restricted to
>only the Windows users with a need to maintain the ACS installation
>or operate the ACS services.
>
>The following registry key and all of its sub-keys need to be
>protected.
>
>HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Cisco\CiscoAAAv3.3\CSAdmin\Administrators
>
>Note: The "CiscoAAAv3.3" portion of the registry key path may differ
>slightly depending on the version of Cisco Secure ACS for Windows
>that is installed.
>
>There are two general deployment scenarios for Cisco Secure ACS. The
>Windows users that need permissions to the registry key will depend
>on the deployment type.
>
> * If Cisco Secure ACS is not installed on a Windows domain
> controller, access to the registry key should be limited to only
> the local Windows SYSTEM account and specific local/domain
> administrators who will be performing software maintenance on the
> ACS installation.
> * If Cisco Secure ACS is installed on a Windows domain controller,
> access to the registry key should be limited to the domain
> account which ACS is configured to use for its services, the
> local Windows SYSTEM account and specific local / domain
> administrators who will be performing software maintenance on the
> ACS installation.
>
>For information about editing the Windows registry, please consult
>the following Microsoft documentation.
>
>"Description of the Microsoft Windows registry":
>
>http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;25698
>
>Further mitigation against remote exploitation can be achieved by
>restricting access to authorized users or disabling remote access to
>the Windows registry on systems running Cisco Secure ACS for Windows.
>For information on restricting remote registry access, please consult
>the following Microsoft documentation.
>
>"How to restrict access to the registry from a remote computer":
>
>http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q153183
>
>"How to Manage Remote Access to the Registry":
>
>http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q314837
>
>Cisco Security Procedures
>=========================
>
>Complete information on reporting security vulnerabilities in Cisco
>products, obtaining assistance with security incidents, and
>registering to receive security information from Cisco, is available
>on Cisco's worldwide website at http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/707/
>sec_incident_response.shtml. This includes instructions for press
>inquiries regarding Cisco security notices. All Cisco security
>advisories are available at http://www.cisco.com/go/psirt.
>
>
>Regards,
>
>Matthew Cerha
>Cisco Systems
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