Cisco Catalyst Exploitation
Exploitation development for critical Cisco Catalyst switch vulnerabilities enabling full device control.
Summary
Cisco Security Announcement
In March 2017, Cisco announced that over 300 switch models were vulnerable to critical vulnerabilities allowing full device control. This vulnerability was coupled with Vault 7 disclosures about tools for accessing network equipment.
RemediationChallenge
Patching thousands of different switch models is a massive undertaking. Patched versions were announced on May 8, 2017, but deployment remains ongoing.
Exploit Development
The presentation details exploit development for Cisco Cluster Management Protocol vulnerabilities. Despite exploit mitigations like DEP and ASLR, the attack surfaces exist and are exploitable.
Hardening Assessment
Network equipment is often assumed to be more hardened than end systems. Research demonstrates that finding critical vulnerabilities and developing working exploits is feasible through systematic analysis and reverse engineering of the vulnerability.
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