A vulnerability in the SSH key management for the Cisco Nexus 9000 Series Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) Mode Switch Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to connect to the affected system with the privileges of the root user. The vulnerability is due to the presence of a default SSH key pair that is present in all devices. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by opening an SSH connection via IPv6 to a targeted device using the extracted key materials. An exploit could allow the attacker to access the system with the privileges of the root user. This vulnerability is only exploitable over IPv6; IPv4 is not vulnerable.
The product initializes or sets a resource with a default that is intended to be changed by the administrator, but the default is not secure.
| Name | Vendor | Start Version | End Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nexus_9332pq_firmware | Cisco | 14.0(3d) (including) | 14.0(3d) (including) |
Developers often choose default values that leave the product as open and easy to use as possible out-of-the-box, under the assumption that the administrator can (or should) change the default value. However, this ease-of-use comes at a cost when the default is insecure and the administrator does not change it.