The Cisco Wireless Location Appliance software contains a default password for the 'root' administrative account. A user who logs in using this username has complete control of the device.
This password is the same in all installations of the product prior to version 2.1.34.0 when shipped as part of a new product purchase. This vulnerability still exists on upgraded installations unless explicit steps have been taken to change the password after the initial installation of the product.
Affected Products:
This vulnerability affects Cisco 2700 Series Wireless Location Appliances shipped with versions prior to 2.1.34.0.
The version of software on the Wireless Location Appliance can be determined in one of three ways.
From the command line the version can be determined with the getserverinfo command. The version is contained in the first five lines of output which will look similar to the following output from a device running version 1.1.73.0:
Another way to get the version from the command line is to view the file /opt/locserver/conf/version.txt. For a WLA running version 2.0.42.0, the contents of that file should be similar to:
The version is simply obtained by assembling the numbers beginning with the "major.number" followed by "minor.number", "build.number" and "patch.number" in that order with each number separated by a period.
Lastly, the version may be obtained via the web interface on a Cisco Wireless Control System (WCS) for any Location Appliances which are configured on it. Browsing to the "Locations" tab and clicking on "Location Servers" in the resulting menu will give a list of Location Appliances with their corresponding versions under the "Versions" column.
No other products are known to be vulnerable.
Details:
The Cisco Wireless Location Appliance (WLA) uses RF fingerprinting technology to simultaneously track 802.11 wireless devices from directly within a WLAN infrastructure. By design, the Cisco Wireless Location Appliance is directly integrated into the WLAN infrastructure using Cisco wireless LAN controllers and Cisco Aironet lightweight access points to track the physical location of wireless devices.
The Cisco Wireless Location Appliance can be managed via a virtual terminal (standard keyboard and monitor attached directly to the appliance), a local serial console, remote SSH connections, and/or remote secure web sessions. A special administrative account is provided so that certain management, troubleshooting tasks, and basic initial setup can be performed.
The default username for administrator login is "root" (without the quotes), and the default password is "password" (without the quotes). Both the username and password are case sensitive.
This issue has been addressed in fixed versions of software by prompting the user to change the password on the root account during the appliance setup installation. This only applies to new WLA devices shipped initially with a non-vulnerable version of software for the initial installation. Previous versions of software which have been upgraded will not prompt the user to change the password for the root user during the upgrade.
Impact:
Successful exploitation of the vulnerability may result in a remote attacker gaining full administrative control of the device.
Software Version and Fixes:
This vulnerability is fixed in versions 2.1.34.0 and later when shipped on new devices for initial installation of the Cisco Wireless Location Appliance software.
When considering software upgrades, also consult http://www.cisco.com/go/psirt and any subsequent advisories to determine exposure and a complete upgrade solution.
In all cases, customers should exercise caution to be certain the devices to be upgraded contain sufficient memory and that current hardware and software configurations will continue to be supported properly by the new release. If the information is not clear, contact the Cisco Technical Assistance Center ("TAC") or your contracted maintenance provider for assistance.
Workarounds:
The vulnerability described in this document can be eliminated by logging in to the affected WLA and changing the default password for the administrative root account to a strong password chosen by the user.
If the password has not previously been changed, the default username for the administrator login is "root" (without the quotes), and the default password is "password" (without the quotes). Both the username and password are case sensitive. After successfully logging in to the WLA as root, the default password may be changed by running the passwd command.
A reboot is not required for the new password to take effect, so network operations will not be disrupted.
Obtaining Fixed Software:
Cisco will make free software available to address this vulnerability for affected customers. This advisory will be updated as fixed software becomes available. Prior to deploying software, customers should consult their maintenance provider or check the software for feature set compatibility and known issues specific to their environment.
