CVE-2010-3288 in Systems Insight Manager
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in HP Systems Insight Manager (SIM) before 6.2 allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of unspecified victims via unknown vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/06/2018
The CVE-2010-3288 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw discovered in HP Systems Insight Manager (SIM) versions prior to 6.2. This vulnerability exists within the web-based administrative interface of HP SIM, a comprehensive systems management solution used by organizations to monitor and manage their IT infrastructure. The flaw allows remote attackers to exploit the authentication mechanism of the system without requiring valid credentials, creating a significant security risk for enterprise environments that rely on HP SIM for critical infrastructure management.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the absence of proper anti-CSRF protection mechanisms within the HP SIM web application. The vulnerability manifests when authenticated users navigate to malicious websites or receive crafted web requests that trigger unintended actions within the SIM environment. Attackers can construct specially crafted requests that, when executed by a victim's browser, perform administrative operations on the SIM server without the user's knowledge or consent. This occurs because the application fails to validate the origin of requests or implement unique tokens that would prevent unauthorized requests from being processed. The unspecified nature of the attack vectors indicates that multiple pathways exist for exploitation, potentially including email attachments, web pages, or other attack delivery mechanisms.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple privilege escalation, as it enables attackers to gain unauthorized administrative access to critical systems management infrastructure. Organizations using vulnerable versions of HP SIM face risks including unauthorized configuration changes, data manipulation, system compromise, and potential lateral movement within their network infrastructure. The vulnerability particularly affects enterprise environments where HP SIM is used for monitoring critical IT assets, as successful exploitation could lead to complete system compromise and unauthorized access to sensitive operational data. The remote nature of the attack means that threat actors can exploit this vulnerability from anywhere on the internet without requiring physical access to the network or systems.
Security professionals should consider this vulnerability in the context of broader web application security frameworks, particularly as it relates to CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery. The vulnerability also aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566, which covers phishing and social engineering attacks that can leverage CSRF flaws. Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including upgrading to HP SIM version 6.2 or later, which contains the necessary CSRF protection mechanisms. Additional protective measures include implementing web application firewalls, configuring proper access controls, and establishing network segmentation to limit the potential impact of successful exploitation. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning should be conducted to identify and remediate similar weaknesses in other enterprise management systems.