An attacker could take control of a company's security system and run arbitrary code because of a flaw in Cisco Systems Inc.'s Secure Access Control Server (ACS) for Windows servers, the company said in a statement April 23.
The Secure ACS, which controls things such as routers in large networks, firewalls and wireless networks, was found to have a buffer-overflow security flaw after the China-based Network Security (NS) Focus Information Technology team discovered the glitch. Cisco subsequently issued a security advisory, followed by a similar advisory from the NSFocus team.
The buffer-overflow vulnerability can cause service to hang or restart, the NS advisory said. "With carefully crafted data, [an] attacker could run arbitrary code with CSAdmin process privilege on the server."
The hacker could potentially seize control of the Cisco service when it's running on Windows.
"Exploitation of this vulnerability results in denial of service and can potentially result in system administrator access," Cisco said in its advisory.
Cisco is providing repair software and recommended that users install patches or upgrade at their earliest possibility. Patch files are currently available on the company's Web site, and customers can download the fixes from the company's Web site.
Versions of the ACS affected by the vulnerability include 2.6.4, 3.0.3 and 3.1.1.
Free Insider GuideCopyright © 1994 - 2012 Computerworld Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Computerworld Inc. is prohibited. Computerworld and Computerworld.com and the respective logos are trademarks of International Data Group Inc.
