Cisco Systems is urging customers to upgrade their Firepower Management Center software due to a serious bug that could be exploited by hackers over the Internet.
The flaw was found (like many other Cisco flaws) in the web -based management interface of its software. This particular flaw is so serious that administrators should update their software as soon as possible without delay. The vulnerability is caused by a bug in the way Cisco software handles Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) authentication issues from an external authentication server. Hackers could exploit the flaw by sending specially crafted HTTP requests to the device.
Devices configured to authenticate web interface users through an external LDAP server are vulnerable . Cisco recommends that administrators go to “System > Users > External Authentication” to see if external LDAP authentication is configured.
How customers fix the issue will depend on the version of Firepower Management Center (FMC) they have.
There is no permanent solution, but some patches for most new versions of FMC and maintenance releases are planned that address the bug.
Customers can install a patch either by upgrading a standard version or by installing a hotfix patch.
According to Cisco, this bug that was discovered does not affect the Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software or the Cisco Firepower Threat Defense Software.
This critical FMC bug follows updates recently made available to address three serious bugs affecting Cisco Data Center Network Manager software (DCNM).
Finally, Cisco claims that it is not aware of any malicious use of the bugs despite the fact that the expert who was tasked with examining the bug stated that the bug has produced proof-of-concept exploit code.
