A high-severity vulnerability has been found in quite a lot of Cisco routers (opens in new tab) which permits risk actors to bypass authentication, achieve root entry to the endpoint, and even launch arbitrary instructions on the underlying working system within the second stage of the assault.

The information comes courtesy of Cisco itself, which mentioned it wouldn’t be addressing the flaw provided that it was found in endpoints which have reached finish of life. The flaw, tracked as CVE-2023-20025, impacts Cisco Small enterprise RV016, RV042, RV042G, and RV082 routers. By sending a custom-built HTTP request to the web-based administration interface of the susceptible routers, the attackers may bypass the system’s authentication and remotely exploit it. 

The attackers would then have the ability to leverage a second vulnerability, additionally newly disclosed CVE-2023-2002, to execute arbitrary instructions on the system’s working system. 

Blocking essential ports

The bugs are rated as “essential”, however Cisco is not going to be addressing it, largely as a result of the units in query are now not supported by the corporate. Nevertheless, BleepingComputer discovered that RV042 and RV042G routers have been obtainable on the market till January 30, 2020, and will likely be having fun with the corporate’s assist till January 31, 2025. 

There are not any workarounds for the flaw, however admins can disable the routers’ web-based administration interface, or block entry to ports 443 and 60443, which might assist block potential assaults.

This isn’t the primary time Cisco determined to not repair essential authentication bypass vulnerabilities. In September, BleepingComputer reminds, an analogous flaw was found plaguing RV110W, RV130, RV130W, and RV2015W EoL. On the time, Cisco prompt prospects transfer to RV132W, RV160, and RV160W.

In June, a essential distant code execution (RCE) flaw (tracked as CVE-2022-20825) was discovered and left unchecked. 

Routers are a vital part in knowledge transit, and as such, are a significant goal for cybercriminals. Subsequently, it’s not unusual for cybersecurity researchers and OEMs to usually discover, and patch, high-severity flaws. Nevertheless, unpatched flaws can wreak havoc on a community, as risk actors don’t have to find new vulnerabilities themselves – they will simply leverage what’s already frequent information.

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By way of: BleepingComputer (opens in new tab)