CVE-2010-3983 in BusinessObjects
Summary
by MITRE
CmcApp in SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 3.2 allows remote authenticated users to gain privileges via vectors involving the Program Job Server and the Program Login property.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/07/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2010-3983 affects SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 3.2, specifically within the CmcApp component that manages the Program Job Server and Program Login property configurations. This authentication bypass flaw enables remote authenticated users to escalate their privileges within the system, representing a significant security weakness in enterprise reporting and business intelligence platforms. The vulnerability resides in the privilege escalation mechanism that governs how job server operations are authenticated and authorized, creating a pathway for malicious actors to assume higher-level administrative privileges without proper authorization.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and access control enforcement within the Program Job Server component. When users authenticate to the system and attempt to manipulate job server properties through the Program Login functionality, the system fails to properly validate the user's authorization level before granting elevated privileges. This weakness allows attackers who have already established legitimate authentication credentials to exploit the system's privilege management logic and escalate their access rights. The flaw demonstrates poor adherence to the principle of least privilege and inadequate privilege separation mechanisms that should normally prevent unauthorized elevation of access levels.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple privilege escalation, as it can enable attackers to gain unauthorized access to sensitive business intelligence data, modify critical reporting configurations, and potentially disrupt business operations. Remote authenticated users who exploit this vulnerability can effectively bypass the normal security controls that protect system integrity and data confidentiality. This weakness particularly affects organizations that rely heavily on SAP BusinessObjects for mission-critical reporting and analytics, as it could allow attackers to access financial reports, operational dashboards, and other sensitive business data. The vulnerability also poses risks to system availability and integrity, as attackers could potentially modify job schedules, alter data processing workflows, or disable critical business intelligence functions.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including applying the vendor-provided security patches, implementing network segmentation to limit access to the affected system, and conducting thorough access control reviews. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-269, which addresses improper privilege management, and represents a clear violation of security best practices for maintaining proper access controls. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to privilege escalation techniques and can be leveraged to establish persistent access to enterprise environments. Security teams should also consider implementing additional monitoring for unusual job server activities and login patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. The incident underscores the importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches and conducting regular vulnerability assessments to identify and remediate similar privilege escalation vulnerabilities in enterprise software systems.