CVE-2020-7162
📋 TL;DR
CVE-2020-7162 is a critical expression language injection vulnerability in HPE Intelligent Management Center (iMC) that allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code. The vulnerability affects iMC PLAT versions prior to 7.3 (E0705P07). Attackers can exploit this without authentication to gain full control of affected systems.
💻 Affected Systems
- HPE Intelligent Management Center (iMC)
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete system compromise with attacker gaining root/administrator privileges, deploying ransomware, exfiltrating sensitive data, and using the system as a pivot point for lateral movement.
Likely Case
Remote code execution leading to installation of backdoors, credential theft, and deployment of cryptocurrency miners or other malware.
If Mitigated
Limited impact if proper network segmentation, strict access controls, and monitoring are in place, potentially containing the breach to isolated segments.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation is straightforward with publicly available proof-of-concept code. The vulnerability requires no authentication and has been actively exploited in the wild.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: iMC PLAT 7.3 (E0705P07) or later
Vendor Advisory: https://support.hpe.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docLocale=en_US&docId=emr_na-hpesbnw04036en_us
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Download the patch from HPE Support Center. 2. Backup current iMC installation. 3. Apply the patch following HPE's installation guide. 4. Restart the iMC services. 5. Verify the patch was successfully applied.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Network Access Restriction
allRestrict network access to iMC management interfaces to trusted IP addresses only
# Example firewall rule (Linux iptables): iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 8080 -s trusted_ip_range -j ACCEPT
# Example firewall rule (Windows): New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Restrict iMC Access" -Direction Inbound -LocalPort 8080 -Protocol TCP -RemoteAddress trusted_ip_range -Action Allow
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Isolate the iMC system in a dedicated network segment with strict firewall rules
- Implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to block expression language injection patterns
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check iMC version via web interface (Help → About) or command line: On Windows: Check program files version. On Linux: Check installed package version.Check Version:
On Windows: Check iMC installation directory properties. On Linux: rpm -qa | grep imc or dpkg -l | grep imcVerify Fix Applied:
Verify version is iMC PLAT 7.3 (E0705P07) or later and test that expression language injection attempts are blocked.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual POST requests to iMC endpoints containing expression language syntax like ${...}
- Multiple failed login attempts followed by successful access
- Suspicious process creation from iMC service accounts
Network Indicators:
- Unusual outbound connections from iMC server to external IPs
- Traffic patterns indicating data exfiltration
- Anomalous HTTP requests to iMC management interfaces
SIEM Query:
source="iMC_logs" AND ("${*" OR "#{" OR "*{*")