Pierluigi Paganini
August 14, 2023
Researchers from Trellix Advanced Research Center discovered multiple vulnerabilities impacting CyberPower’s PowerPanel Enterprise Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) platform and Dataprobe’s iBoot Power Distribution Unit (PDU). An attacker could exploit to gain unauthenticated access to these systems and carry out a broad range of malicious activities.
CyberPower is a prominent supplier of data center hardware and infrastructure solutions, with a specific focus on cutting-edge power protection technologies and effective power management systems. The PowerPanel Enterprise DCIM platform enables IT teams to manage, configure, and monitor a data center’s infrastructure via cloud connectivity. This platform serves as an integrated hub of information and control for all interconnected devices. Such solutions find widespread adoption, ranging from enterprises overseeing on-site server installations to expansive co-located data centers, including the industry giants like AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and others.
Access to power management systems can allow attackers to cut power to devices connected to a PDU shutting down data centers. A threat actor could cause a prolonged outage with the simple “flip of a switch” in dozens of compromised data centers.
The manipulation of power management can also damage hardware devices.
Threat actors can also compromise a data center by establishing a backdoor and abuse systems and devices spread malware on a large scale. APT groups could trigger these flaws to conduct cyberespionage attacks.
The researchers presented their findings at the DEFCON security conference today.
The nine vulnerabilities have received CVE between CVE-2023-3259 through CVE-2023-3267. Successful exploitation of the flaws can allow threat actors to shut down entire data centers.
“we found four vulnerabilities in CyberPower’s PowerPanel Enterprise Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) platform and five vulnerabilities in Dataprobe’s iBoot Power Distribution Unit (PDU). An attacker could chain these vulnerabilities together to gain full access to these systems – which alone could be leveraged to commit substantial damage.” reads the advisory published by Trellix. “Furthermore, both products are vulnerable to remote code injection that could be leveraged to create a backdoor or an entry point to the broader network of connected data center devices and enterprise systems.”
The good news is that the researchers have found no evidence that these flaws were exploited in the wild.
Below is the list of flaws discovered by the researchers:
The vendor addressed the flaw with the release of version 2.6.9 of PowerPanel Enterprise software and version 1.44.08042023 of the Dataprobe iBoot PDU firmware.
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“With how incredibly significant these services are for consumers and businesses, it’s clear that cybersecurity for the data centers making them possible is essential. It isn’t wrong to say today that proper cybersecurity posture and defenses for data centers are essential to the basic functioning of our economy and society. This level of importance makes them a target for threat actors looking to implement attacks on nation-states, ransom critical infrastructure, or conduct espionage for foreign nations.” concludes the researchers. “Thus, the devices and software platforms that service data centers must remain secure and updated, and the vendors producing this hardware and software have processes in place for quick and efficient response following vulnerability disclosures.”
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