CVE-2004-0709 in Openview Select Access
Summary
by MITRE
HP OpenView Select Access 5.0 through 6.0 does not correctly decode UTF-8 encoded unicode characters in a URL, which could allow remote attackers to bypass access restrictions.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/20/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2004-0709 affects HP OpenView Select Access versions 5.0 through 6.0, representing a critical security flaw in how the system processes Uniform Resource Locator requests containing UTF-8 encoded Unicode characters. This issue stems from improper handling of character encoding within URL parsing mechanisms, creating a pathway for malicious actors to exploit the system's access control measures. The flaw specifically manifests when the application encounters URLs with multibyte UTF-8 sequences that are not properly decoded, leading to potential bypass of authentication and authorization checks.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability resides in the application's URL parsing and decoding logic, which fails to correctly interpret UTF-8 encoded Unicode sequences that represent characters outside the standard ASCII range. When an attacker crafts a malicious URL containing specially crafted UTF-8 sequences, the system's inadequate decoding process can cause the application to misinterpret the intended resource access, potentially allowing unauthorized access to restricted resources. This represents a classic input validation and encoding issue that violates fundamental security principles of proper data sanitization and validation. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-180, which addresses issues related to improper handling of input data, and specifically relates to improper decoding of encoded data within web applications.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple access bypass, as it can potentially enable attackers to gain unauthorized access to sensitive system resources, configuration data, and administrative functions within the HP OpenView environment. Attackers could leverage this flaw to traverse access controls that are normally enforced, potentially escalating privileges or accessing restricted areas of the application without proper authentication. The remote nature of this vulnerability means that attackers do not require physical access to the system, making it particularly dangerous in networked environments where the application is exposed to external traffic. This vulnerability directly maps to attack techniques described in the MITRE ATT&CK framework under the T1078 credential access and T1190 exploitation for execution categories.
Organizations utilizing affected HP OpenView Select Access versions should immediately implement mitigations including applying available patches from HP, implementing proper URL validation and encoding checks, and configuring web application firewalls to monitor and filter suspicious UTF-8 sequences in URL requests. Network segmentation and access control measures should be strengthened to limit exposure, while monitoring systems should be configured to detect anomalous URL patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of proper input validation and encoding handling in web applications, particularly when dealing with international character sets and Unicode representations. Security teams should also consider implementing comprehensive logging and alerting mechanisms to detect potential exploitation attempts and maintain audit trails of access control bypass events.