CVE-2011-1545 in Insight Control Performance Management
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in HP Insight Control Performance Management before 6.3 allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of unspecified victims via unknown vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/04/2024
The CVE-2011-1545 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw discovered in HP Insight Control Performance Management software prior to version 6.3. This vulnerability resides within the web-based management interface of HP's performance monitoring solution, which is designed to provide centralized management and monitoring capabilities for enterprise IT infrastructure. The flaw specifically affects the authentication handling mechanisms within the application's web interface, creating a pathway for malicious actors to exploit the system's trust relationship with authenticated users.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the absence of proper anti-CSRF token validation within the application's request processing pipeline. When legitimate users authenticate to the HP Insight Control Performance Management interface, their session remains active and trusted by the system. However, the vulnerability allows attackers to craft malicious requests that can be executed in the context of an authenticated user's session without their knowledge or consent. These attacks can be delivered through various vectors including malicious websites, email attachments, or compromised network resources that trick users into inadvertently triggering unauthorized actions within the targeted management interface.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data theft or modification, as it provides attackers with the capability to perform administrative actions within the managed infrastructure. Since HP Insight Control Performance Management operates with elevated privileges for system monitoring and management, successful exploitation could enable attackers to manipulate performance data, alter monitoring configurations, or potentially gain deeper access to underlying systems. The unspecified nature of victim targets suggests that any authenticated user session within the application's scope could be compromised, making the attack surface particularly broad and dangerous in enterprise environments where multiple administrators may be actively using the system.
This vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery weaknesses in software applications. The flaw demonstrates a classic lack of proper request validation and authentication token implementation that violates fundamental web security principles. From an adversarial perspective, this vulnerability maps to several ATT&CK techniques including T1566 for initial access through social engineering vectors and T1078 for legitimate credential use. The attack chain typically involves luring users to visit malicious sites that contain embedded CSRF payloads, which then execute unauthorized commands against the target system while leveraging the user's existing authentication session.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should immediately implement the vendor-provided patches for HP Insight Control Performance Management version 6.3 or later, which address the missing CSRF token validation mechanisms. Additionally, network administrators should consider implementing additional security controls such as web application firewalls that can detect and block suspicious cross-site requests, along with monitoring for unusual administrative activities that might indicate unauthorized access attempts. The mitigation strategy should also include user education regarding the dangers of visiting untrusted websites while authenticated to sensitive management interfaces, as well as implementing proper session management controls that limit the lifespan and scope of authentication tokens.