Description

A vulnerability exists in the command line interface of AOS-CX that may allow for improper processing of malformed input. Successful exploitation could result in the execution of arbitrary commands with root privileges.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "7.3",
  "pubDate": "2026-09-01T21:18:43.610Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-09-01T21:18:43.610Z",
  "executiveSummary": "A critical command injection vulnerability exists within the command line interface (CLI) of AOS-CX due to the improper processing of malformed input strings.\nThe vulnerability allows an authenticated attacker to bypass standard input validation routines, facilitating the execution of arbitrary system commands.\nSuccessful exploitation results in the elevation of privileges to root, providing the attacker with unrestricted control over the affected network device.\nThis flaw poses a significant risk to the integrity and confidentiality of the switch infrastructure, as it grants full administrative command execution capabilities.\nThe impact includes potential unauthorized configuration changes, exfiltration of sensitive device data, or total system compromise.\nExploitation requires an attacker to interact with the device's CLI; the risk is primarily relevant in environments where unauthorized users have established session access to the management interface.",
  "technicalDetails": "The vulnerability originates from a failure in the input parsing logic within the AOS-CX command line interface subsystem. The affected component fails to adequately sanitize or escape user-supplied arguments before passing them to internal system calls or shell-level command processors.\nThe root cause is identified as an insufficient validation mechanism during the parsing of CLI input strings. When a malformed or crafted input string is provided to specific CLI commands, the interface does not properly distinguish between intended command arguments and malicious shell-injected payloads.\nThe attack flow begins when an attacker establishes an interactive session with the AOS-CX device via the CLI. The attacker inputs a specifically crafted command string containing shell metacharacters or control sequences designed to break out of the intended execution context.\nUpon processing the input, the application interprets the injected content as part of a system-level command sequence. Because the CLI process operates with elevated privileges, the subsequent execution of the injected payload occurs with root-level permissions.\nThis allows the attacker to execute arbitrary binaries, modify system configuration files, or terminate critical background processes. The vulnerability bypasses the intended functional constraints of the CLI, effectively providing the attacker with a command shell that inherits the root identity of the parent process.\nThe exploitation method relies on the lack of rigorous input sanitization (such as allow-listing or proper parameter quoting) when the CLI wrapper invokes underlying operating system functions. Since the affected component executes with high system privileges, there is no further need for local privilege escalation once the initial injection is successful.\nThe persistence of this vulnerability is tied to the way command-line arguments are sanitized; without a patch to enforce strict syntax checking on input streams, the CLI remains susceptible to direct command injection by any user with valid login credentials."
}