CVE-2005-1708 in reporter
Summary
by MITRE
templates.admin.users.user_form_processing in blue coat reporter before 7.1.2 allows authenticated users to gain administrator privileges via an http post that sets volatile.user.administrator to true.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/09/2018
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2005-1708 resides within the Blue Coat Reporter software version 7.1.1 and earlier, specifically affecting the templates.admin.users.user_form_processing component. This flaw represents a critical privilege escalation vulnerability that allows authenticated users to elevate their privileges to administrative level without proper authorization. The issue stems from insufficient input validation and access control mechanisms within the user management processing logic. When an authenticated user submits an HTTP POST request to the vulnerable endpoint, the system fails to properly validate the user's administrative status before processing the request. This oversight creates a pathway for malicious actors to manipulate the volatile.user.administrator parameter directly through the request payload, effectively granting themselves full administrative privileges.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through manipulation of the HTTP POST request parameters sent to the user_form_processing endpoint. The system's insufficient validation allows an attacker to set the volatile.user.administrator parameter to true, bypassing normal authentication and authorization checks. This type of vulnerability aligns with CWE-285, which addresses improper authorization issues, and CWE-352, which covers Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerabilities. The flaw demonstrates a classic case of insufficient access control validation where the application trusts user-provided input without proper verification of the user's actual privileges. From an operational standpoint, this vulnerability undermines the fundamental security model of the Blue Coat Reporter system, as it allows any authenticated user to assume administrative responsibilities including access to sensitive system configurations, user management capabilities, and potentially sensitive network monitoring data.
The impact of this privilege escalation vulnerability extends beyond immediate administrative access, potentially enabling attackers to compromise the entire monitoring infrastructure. An attacker with administrative privileges could modify user accounts, alter system configurations, access confidential network traffic data, and potentially escalate their access further within the network. This vulnerability particularly affects organizations that rely on Blue Coat Reporter for network security monitoring and compliance reporting, as it creates a backdoor for unauthorized administrative access. The risk is amplified by the fact that the vulnerability requires only authenticated access, meaning that any user with legitimate credentials could exploit this flaw. Organizations using versions prior to 7.1.2 face significant exposure, as this vulnerability could be leveraged by both internal malicious actors and external attackers who have obtained valid user credentials. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this as a privilege escalation technique under T1068, which involves exploiting vulnerabilities to gain higher-level privileges.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2005-1708 focus primarily on upgrading to Blue Coat Reporter version 7.1.2 or later, which contains the necessary patches to address the privilege escalation vulnerability. Organizations should also implement network segmentation and access controls to limit the exposure of the affected system components. Additional defensive measures include monitoring for suspicious HTTP POST requests to user management endpoints, implementing proper input validation at the application level, and ensuring that all user sessions are properly authenticated and authorized. Regular security assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities in other components of the security infrastructure. System administrators should also consider implementing privileged access management solutions to limit the scope of administrative privileges and reduce the potential impact of such vulnerabilities. The vulnerability highlights the importance of principle of least privilege and proper input validation in security-critical applications, particularly those handling sensitive network monitoring data and user access controls.