1. Introduction
The HP Intelligent Management Center Web Administration Interface vulnerability allows remote attackers to gain administrative access due to default credentials. This poses a significant risk to business confidentiality, integrity, and availability as an attacker could control the IMC system and potentially connected network devices. Systems affected are those running the HP Intelligent Management Center web administration interface. Impact on confidentiality is high, integrity medium, and availability medium.
2. Technical Explanation
The vulnerability occurs because the HP Intelligent Management Center (IMC) application uses a known set of default credentials for its web administration interface. A remote attacker can exploit this by attempting to log in with these default credentials. There are no specific CVEs currently associated with this issue, but it represents a common misconfiguration. An example attack involves an attacker simply navigating to the IMC web interface and using the default username and password combination to gain full administrative control.
- Root cause: Use of hardcoded or easily guessable default credentials for the web administration interface.
- Exploit mechanism: An attacker attempts to log in with the known default credentials via the IMC web interface.
- Scope: HP Intelligent Management Center application running on various platforms.
3. Detection and Assessment
To confirm vulnerability, check if the system is accessible via a web browser and whether it responds to login attempts using default credentials. A thorough method involves attempting to log in with known default usernames and passwords.
- Quick checks: Access the IMC web interface through a web browser.
- Scanning: Nessus plugin ID 138694 can be used as an example for detecting this vulnerability, but results should be manually verified.
- Logs and evidence: Check application logs for failed login attempts with default credentials. Log file locations vary depending on the IMC installation.
4. Solution / Remediation Steps
The solution is to change the default administrative login credentials for the HP Intelligent Management Center web administration interface. These steps should be performed carefully and tested thoroughly.
4.1 Preparation
- Dependencies: Access to the IMC web interface with administrative privileges. Roll back plan: Restore the backed-up configuration if issues occur.
- Change windows may be needed depending on your organisation’s policies and approval processes.
4.2 Implementation
- Step 1: Log in to the IMC web administration interface using the default credentials.
- Step 2: Navigate to System > Users > Administrators.
- Step 3: Select the default administrator account and click “Edit”.
- Step 4: Change the password to a strong, unique value.
- Step 5: Save the changes.
4.3 Config or Code Example
Before
Default Username: admin
Default Password: password
After
Username:
Password:
4.4 Security Practices Relevant to This Vulnerability
Several security practices can help prevent this type of vulnerability. Least privilege reduces the impact if an account is compromised, and safe defaults ensure systems are not exposed with weak credentials.
- Practice 1: Implement least privilege access control to limit user permissions.
- Practice 2: Enforce strong password policies for all accounts.
4.5 Automation (Optional)
Automation is not generally suitable for this specific vulnerability due to the need for manual credential changes and system-specific configurations.
5. Verification / Validation
- Post-fix check: Attempt to log in using the original default username and password; access should be denied.
- Re-test: Repeat step 2 from section 3, attempting login with default credentials – it should fail.
- Monitoring: Monitor application logs for failed login attempts; a sudden increase in failures could indicate brute-force attacks.
Login attempt with default credentials failed.
6. Preventive Measures and Monitoring
Update security baselines to include requirements for changing default credentials on all systems. Implement checks in CI/CD pipelines to identify systems with default configurations. A sensible patch or config review cycle should be established based on the risk assessment.
- Baselines: Update your security baseline to require strong passwords and regular credential rotation.
- Pipelines: Integrate configuration scanning tools into your CI/CD pipeline to detect default credentials.
- Asset and patch process: Implement a regular review cycle for system configurations, including password policies.
7. Risks, Side Effects, and Roll Back
Changing the password may temporarily disrupt access if the new password is forgotten or incorrectly entered. Ensure you have documented the new credentials securely. To roll back, restore the backed-up configuration file.
- Risk or side effect 1: Loss of administrative access if the new password is lost. Mitigation: Document the new password securely and consider a password reset process.
- Risk or side effect 2: Potential service interruption during password change. Mitigation: Perform the change during a maintenance window.
- Roll back: Restore the configuration file backed up in step 1 of section 4.1.
8. References and Resources
- Vendor advisory or bulletin: HPE Security Alerts
- NVD or CVE entry: No specific CVE currently available for this issue.
- Product or platform documentation relevant to the fix: HP Intelligent Management Center User Guide