CVE-2011-2084 in Best Practical
Summary
by MITRE
Best Practical Solutions RT 3.x before 3.8.12 and 4.x before 4.0.6 allows remote authenticated users to read (1) hashes of former passwords and (2) ticket correspondence history by leveraging access to a privileged account.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/03/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2011-2084 affects Best Practical Solutions RT versions prior to 3.8.12 and 4.0.6, representing a significant information disclosure flaw within the ticketing system's authentication and access control mechanisms. This vulnerability specifically targets privileged accounts and exposes sensitive data that could be leveraged by malicious actors to escalate their privileges and compromise system security. The issue stems from inadequate access controls and data protection measures within the application's architecture, allowing authenticated users with sufficient privileges to access information that should remain restricted.
The technical flaw manifests in the application's failure to properly enforce access restrictions on sensitive data elements within the ticketing system. When authenticated users with privileged access attempt to query the system, they can retrieve password hash information from previous authentication attempts and access detailed correspondence history associated with specific tickets. This occurs due to insufficient input validation and access control checks within the application's data retrieval mechanisms, which do not adequately verify whether the requesting user has proper authorization to access the requested data elements.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple information disclosure, as it provides attackers with critical information that can be used in subsequent attack phases. The exposure of former password hashes creates potential opportunities for password reuse attacks and credential stuffing attempts, while access to ticket correspondence history can reveal sensitive business information, communication patterns, and system configurations. This vulnerability particularly affects organizations that rely heavily on RT for managing sensitive communications and support tickets, as it could expose confidential data that should remain protected within the system.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-200, which addresses improper exposure of sensitive information, and represents a classic case of insufficient access control enforcement within web applications. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability enables techniques such as credential access through password reuse and information gathering through data exposure, supporting later stages of the attack chain including privilege escalation and persistence. Organizations utilizing RT systems should prioritize immediate patching of affected versions to mitigate the risk of unauthorized access to sensitive data.
Mitigation strategies should focus on implementing proper access control mechanisms, regular security audits of application interfaces, and monitoring for unauthorized data access attempts. System administrators should ensure that all affected RT installations are updated to versions 3.8.12 or 4.0.6, which contain the necessary security patches to address the vulnerability. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing network segmentation and monitoring solutions to detect suspicious access patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. Regular security assessments of authentication systems and access controls should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities that could compromise system integrity and data confidentiality.