CVE-2005-3339 in mantis
Summary
by MITRE
mantis before 0.19.3 caches the user id longer than necessary which has unknown impact and attack vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/12/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2005-3339 affects the mantis bug tracking system version 0.19.2 and earlier, representing a session management flaw that persists across user authentication boundaries. This issue stems from the application's improper handling of user session identifiers within its caching mechanism, creating a scenario where user identity information remains cached beyond the legitimate scope of authentication. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-200 as it involves improper information exposure, specifically the retention of user identifiers in memory or cache storage beyond the expected session duration. The mantis system maintains user identification data in a cached state that extends beyond the normal logout or session expiration procedures, creating a potential security risk that could be exploited by malicious actors.
The technical implementation flaw manifests in the application's session handling architecture where user identification tokens and associated authentication data are stored in memory or cache storage without proper expiration mechanisms. This caching behavior violates fundamental security principles of session management by not implementing appropriate time-based expiration or event-driven invalidation of cached user identifiers. The system fails to properly invalidate cached user data upon logout or session timeout, allowing the cached identifiers to persist in memory for extended periods. This design oversight creates a window of opportunity where unauthorized access could potentially occur if the cached information is not properly secured or if system memory is accessed by malicious processes.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple session management concerns and could potentially enable privilege escalation or unauthorized access to system resources. Attackers who gain access to the cached user identifiers could potentially impersonate legitimate users or exploit the extended caching period to perform unauthorized actions within the bug tracking system. The unknown impact and attack vectors referenced in the original description suggest that the vulnerability could be leveraged in multiple ways depending on the system configuration and the specific implementation details of the mantis installation. This includes potential exploitation through memory dumping techniques or by leveraging other system vulnerabilities that could expose cached session data, making the attack surface more extensive than initially apparent.
The vulnerability demonstrates a failure to implement proper session lifecycle management, which aligns with ATT&CK technique T1548.003 for abuse of credentials and T1078.004 for valid accounts. Organizations using affected versions of mantis should implement immediate mitigations including upgrading to version 0.19.3 or later, which contains the necessary session management fixes. Additional mitigations should include implementing proper session timeout mechanisms, ensuring cache invalidation occurs upon logout events, and monitoring for unauthorized access patterns. Security configurations should enforce strict session management policies and implement proper memory sanitization procedures to prevent cached user data from persisting beyond legitimate authentication periods. The vulnerability underscores the critical importance of proper session handling in web applications and serves as a reminder of how seemingly minor implementation flaws in authentication systems can create significant security risks.