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ESA-2015-174: EMC VPLEX Undocumented Account Vulnerability

EMC Identifier: ESA-2015-174

CVE Identifier: CVE-2015-6850

Severity Rating: CVSS Base Score 6.8 (AV:L/AC:L/Au:S/C:C/I:C/A:C)

Affected Products  
EMC Software: EMC VPLEX GeoSynchrony 5. 4 SP1 P2 and earlier  
EMC Software: EMC VPLEX GeoSynchrony 5.5

Summary  
EMC VPLEX GeoSynchrony code level 5.5 and earlier contains an undocumented account that may potentially be utilized by malicious VPLEX users to gain unauthorized access to the system.

Details  
EMC VPLEX enables the “root” account that was found to be undocumented and protected with default password. The users are prevented from logging into VPLEX directly as root. However, any VPLEX user who is already logged in can elevate his/her privilege to root with knowledge of the default password.

Note: "Root" account is not required for normal operations of the product. “Service” account is the only authorized account to get the root privilege for the purpose of functionality and maintaining the product. 

Resolution  
EMC updated product documentation to include information about the "root" account and how to change its default password. The following steps need to be performed to resolve this issue:

Upgrade the VPLEX GeoSynchrony to versions 5.4 SP1 P3 or 5.5 Patch 1.

Once you have upgraded to 5.4 SP1 P3 or 5.5 Patch 1, customers must follow the instructions in the KB Article 211258 (https://support.emc.com/kb/211258), How to change default password for EMC VPLEX root account, to change default "root" password.

Note: VS1 customers cannot upgrade to 5.5 Patch 1, since only VS2 hardware is capable of running 5.5 Patch 1. VS1 customers must upgrade to 5.4 SP1 P3, and VS2 customers can go to either 5.4 SP1 P3, or 5.5 Patch 1.

Given the elevated permissions granted to the “service” account, its default password must be also changed (if not done already) in order to better protect VPLEX from misuse or abuse of those privileges. Refer to EMC VPLEX Security Configuration Guide (https://support.emc.com/docu31419) for more information.

EMC recommends that all customers upgrade to one of the above listed versions at their earliest opportunity and change all default passwords to fully mitigate the risk.

Link To Remedies  
Customers must follow KB 211258, How to change default password for EMC VPLEX root account, and can download the script mentioned in the KB from EMC’s On-Line Support.

Read and use the information in this EMC Security Advisory to assist in avoiding any situation that might arise from the problems described herein. If you have any questions regarding this product alert, contact EMC Software Technical Support at 1-877-534-2867.

For an explanation of Severity Ratings, refer to EMC Knowledgebase solution emc218831. EMC recommends all customers take into account both the base score and any relevant temporal and environmental scores which may impact the potential severity associated with particular security vulnerability.

EMC Corporation distributes EMC Security Advisories, in order to bring to the attention of users of the affected EMC products, important security information. EMC recommends that all users determine the applicability of this information to their individual situations and take appropriate action. The information set forth herein is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. EMC disclaims all warranties, either express or implied, including the warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title and non-infringement. In no event, shall EMC or its suppliers, be liable for any damages whatsoever including direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, loss of business profits or special damages, even if EMC or its suppliers have been advised of the possibility of such damages. Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages, so the foregoing limitation may not apply.


EMC Product Security Response Center
security_alert@emc.com
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