CVE-2018-15389
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability allows unauthenticated remote attackers to access the administrative web interface of Cisco Prime Collaboration Provisioning using default hard-coded credentials. Attackers gain administrator-level privileges, enabling complete system compromise. Organizations running affected PCP versions without proper password replacement are vulnerable.
💻 Affected Systems
- Cisco Prime Collaboration Provisioning
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete system takeover: attackers can reconfigure the entire provisioning system, create new administrative accounts, deploy backdoors, and potentially pivot to other network systems.
Likely Case
Unauthorized administrative access leading to configuration changes, data exfiltration, and installation of persistent access mechanisms.
If Mitigated
Limited impact if proper network segmentation and access controls prevent external access to the administrative interface.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires only knowledge of the default credentials and network access to the administrative interface. No special tools or skills needed.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Version 12.1 and later
Vendor Advisory: https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20181003-cpcp-password
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Upgrade to Cisco Prime Collaboration Provisioning version 12.1 or later. 2. During installation/upgrade, ensure you replace all default credentials with strong, unique passwords. 3. Restart the system after upgrade completion.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Change Default Credentials
allManually change the default hard-coded password to a strong, unique password
Access administrative interface and navigate to User Management > Change Password
Network Access Restriction
allRestrict access to the administrative web interface using firewall rules
Configure firewall to allow only trusted IP addresses to access TCP port 443 (HTTPS) on the PCP server
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Immediately change all default passwords to strong, unique credentials
- Implement strict network segmentation and firewall rules to limit access to the administrative interface
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Attempt to log into the administrative web interface using default credentials. Check system version via admin interface.Check Version:
Log into administrative interface and check System Information or About sectionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify version is 12.1 or later. Attempt to log in with default credentials should fail. Confirm strong passwords are set.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Failed login attempts followed by successful login with default username
- Configuration changes from unexpected sources
- Administrative actions from new/unexpected IP addresses
Network Indicators:
- Unusual traffic patterns to administrative interface
- External IP addresses accessing administrative port
SIEM Query:
source_ip=external AND destination_port=443 AND (user="default_admin" OR user contains "admin") AND action="login_success"