CVE-2018-11177

Vulnerability

Quest DR Series Disk Backup software versions before 4.0.3.1 are affected by a command injection vulnerability (issue 35 of 46) [1]. The flaw exists in the management interface, allowing an authenticated attacker to inject arbitrary operating system commands through improperly sanitized input fields. The vulnerability is present in the administrative web interface or API endpoints that process user-supplied data without proper validation.

Exploitation

An attacker must have valid administrative credentials to the Quest DR Series management interface. With authenticated access, the attacker can craft a malicious request that includes operating system commands within a parameter that is not sanitized. The injected commands are then executed on the underlying system with the privileges of the application process [1]. No user interaction beyond the initial authentication is required.

Impact

Successful exploitation allows an authenticated attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the target system, leading to full compromise of the backup appliance. This can result in unauthorized data access, modification, or destruction, as well as potential lateral movement within the network [1]. The impact is high, as backup systems often hold sensitive data and are critical for recovery operations.

Mitigation

Quest released version 4.0.3.1 to address this vulnerability [1]. Administrators should upgrade to the latest version immediately. There is no known workaround that does not involve upgrading, as the fix requires patching the vulnerable code paths. The vulnerability is not listed in the KEV catalog as of the publication date.