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Critical Cisco vulnerability CVE-2024-20419 lets unauthenticated attackers change admin passwords

"A successful exploit could allow an attacker to access the web UI or API with the privileges of the compromised user."

Cisco has patched a vulnerability which could enable unauthenticated, remote attackers to change the passwords of admins or any other user they wish to target.

Tracked as CVE-2024-20419, the flaw affects Cisco Smart Software Manager On-Prem (SSM On-Prem), Cisco warned.

"This vulnerability is due to improper implementation of the password-change process," it continued. "An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted HTTP requests to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow an attacker to access the web UI or API with the privileges of the compromised user."

Cisco has released software updates that address the flaw and advised that "there are no workarounds that address this vulnerability."

This vulnerability affects Cisco SSM On-Prem and Cisco Smart Software Manager Satellite (SSM Satellite). It's worth remembering that these are the same product.

For releases earlier than Release 7.0, the product was called Cisco SSM Satellite. As of Release 7.0, it's called Cisco SSM On-Prem.

Read more: Patch Tuesday brings a Hyper-V vulnerability exploited in the wild, trio of CVSS 9.8 bugs in RDS

Cisco patched ten vulnerabilities yesterday - two of them critical, four high impact and four medium.

The other critical vuln is a flaw in the content scanning and message filtering features of Cisco Secure Email Gateway that could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to "overwrite arbitrary files on the underlying operating system."

"This vulnerability is due to improper handling of email attachments when file analysis and content filters are enabled," Cisco wrote. "An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending an email that contains a crafted attachment through an affected device.

"A successful exploit could allow the attacker to replace any file on the underlying file system. The attacker could then perform any of the following actions: add users with root privileges, modify the device configuration, execute arbitrary code, or cause a permanent denial of service (DoS) condition on the affected device."

It also warned: "Manual intervention is required to recover from the DoS condition. Customers are advised to contact the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) to help recover a device in this condition."

Read more: Is Snowflake the 'third-party cloud platform' caught up in massive AT&T data heist?

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