CVE-2008-2881 in Relative Real Estate Systems
Summary
by MITRE
Relative Real Estate Systems 3.0 and earlier stores passwords in cleartext in a MySQL database, which allows context-dependent attackers to obtain sensitive information.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/29/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2008-2881 affects Relative Real Estate Systems version 3.0 and earlier, presenting a critical security flaw in how user credentials are handled within the application's database architecture. This weakness stems from the application's design decision to store passwords in plaintext format within a MySQL database instance, creating an inherent security risk that directly violates fundamental principles of credential protection. The flaw represents a classic example of improper data handling practices where sensitive authentication information is stored without any form of cryptographic protection or hashing mechanism.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability occurs at the database storage layer where the application directly writes user passwords to the MySQL database without applying any encryption or hashing algorithms. This cleartext storage approach means that any individual with access to the database can immediately retrieve and utilize these passwords for unauthorized authentication attempts. The context-dependent nature of this vulnerability implies that attackers must have some level of access to the database environment, whether through legitimate administrative access, database connection credentials, or through other exploitation vectors that lead to database compromise. This weakness directly maps to CWE-256, which addresses the storage of passwords in cleartext, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566.001 for credential access through database compromises.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple credential theft, as it provides attackers with persistent access to the real estate management system and potentially to connected resources. Once compromised, these cleartext passwords can be used to gain unauthorized access to the application, potentially leading to data breaches, unauthorized property listings, financial fraud, and other malicious activities. The vulnerability affects the confidentiality and integrity aspects of the CIA triad, as it allows unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information while undermining the system's ability to maintain proper access controls. Organizations utilizing this software face significant risk of insider threats or external attacks that exploit this weakness, particularly in environments where database access controls are not properly enforced or monitored.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate implementation of database schema modifications to properly hash and encrypt stored passwords using industry-standard cryptographic algorithms such as bcrypt, scrypt, or PBKDF2. The application must be updated to enforce proper password hashing at the point of storage, ensuring that no cleartext passwords are ever written to the database. Organizations should implement database access controls and monitoring to prevent unauthorized access to the credential storage tables, while also conducting regular security assessments to identify similar weaknesses in other applications. The remediation process should include password reset procedures for all affected users and implementation of proper access logging to detect potential unauthorized database access attempts. This vulnerability highlights the importance of following security best practices such as those outlined in NIST SP 800-63B for password management and authentication systems, ensuring that credential storage mechanisms adhere to established security standards and prevent the exposure of sensitive information through cleartext storage practices.