CVE-2010-3011 in System Management Homepage
Summary
by MITRE
CRLF injection vulnerability in HP System Management Homepage (SMH) before 6.2 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary HTTP headers and conduct HTTP response splitting attacks via unspecified vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/25/2021
The CVE-2010-3011 vulnerability represents a critical CRLF injection flaw within HP System Management Homepage versions prior to 6.2, exposing systems to sophisticated HTTP response splitting attacks that can compromise web application security. This vulnerability resides in the handling of user-supplied input within the web interface components of the HP SMH platform, which is commonly used for system monitoring and management in enterprise environments. The flaw enables remote attackers to inject carriage return line feed sequences that manipulate HTTP headers, creating opportunities for various malicious activities including session hijacking, cross-site scripting, and cache poisoning attacks.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through manipulation of input fields that are processed by the HP SMH web server without proper sanitization of CRLF characters. When user-provided data containing these sequences is incorporated into HTTP response headers, attackers can inject additional headers that alter the behavior of web browsers and intermediary proxies. This creates a condition where the web server sends multiple HTTP responses in a single communication, allowing attackers to inject malicious content that can be cached or interpreted by unsuspecting users. The vulnerability's impact extends beyond simple header manipulation as it enables attackers to craft malicious responses that can redirect users to phishing sites or inject harmful scripts into web pages.
The operational consequences of this vulnerability are particularly severe in enterprise environments where HP SMH is deployed for system administration and monitoring purposes. Attackers can leverage this weakness to bypass authentication mechanisms, steal administrative sessions, or manipulate system configuration data. The vulnerability affects not only the web interface but also impacts the broader network security posture as it can be used to establish persistent access points within the organization. Organizations using unpatched versions of HP SMH face significant risk of unauthorized access to critical system management functions, potentially leading to complete system compromise and data breaches.
Security professionals should implement immediate mitigation strategies including patching affected systems to HP SMH version 6.2 or later, which contains the necessary fixes for this vulnerability. Network segmentation and monitoring of HTTP traffic can help detect suspicious header injection patterns, while implementing proper input validation and sanitization measures at the application level provides additional defense layers. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-113, which specifically addresses improper neutralization of CRLF characters in HTTP headers, and maps to ATT&CK technique T1190 for exploiting vulnerabilities in web applications. Organizations must also consider implementing web application firewalls and regular security assessments to identify similar injection vulnerabilities in their IT infrastructure. The incident underscores the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches and following secure coding practices to prevent CRLF injection attacks that can undermine the integrity of web-based management systems.