CVE-2011-2522 in Samba
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerabilities in the Samba Web Administration Tool (SWAT) in Samba 3.x before 3.5.10 allow remote attackers to hijack the authentication of administrators for requests that (1) shut down daemons, (2) start daemons, (3) add shares, (4) remove shares, (5) add printers, (6) remove printers, (7) add user accounts, or (8) remove user accounts, as demonstrated by certain start, stop, and restart parameters to the status program.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/03/2024
The CVE-2011-2522 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery weakness in the Samba Web Administration Tool that fundamentally compromises the security of network file sharing environments. This vulnerability exists within Samba 3.x versions prior to 3.5.10 and specifically affects the SWAT interface, which provides web-based administrative capabilities for Samba servers. The flaw allows remote attackers to manipulate authenticated administrator sessions through carefully crafted malicious requests that leverage the trust relationship between the web interface and the underlying Samba services.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the absence of proper anti-CSRF mechanisms within the SWAT web interface. When administrators access the Samba web administration tool, their authentication session remains active and trusted for subsequent requests. Attackers can exploit this by constructing malicious web pages or embedding malicious links that, when visited by an authenticated administrator, automatically submit requests to the SWAT interface without the administrator's knowledge or consent. The vulnerability affects eight distinct administrative operations including daemon management, share and printer configuration, and user account manipulation, making it particularly dangerous for network administrators who rely on the web interface for routine maintenance tasks.
The operational impact of CVE-2011-2522 is severe and far-reaching for organizations using Samba servers with web administration capabilities. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability can execute arbitrary administrative commands on the target system, potentially leading to complete system compromise and unauthorized access to shared resources. The ability to shut down or restart daemons can disrupt services and create denial of service conditions, while the capacity to add or remove shares, printers, and user accounts allows for persistent access and privilege escalation. This vulnerability directly maps to CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery weaknesses, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1078 for valid accounts and T1485 for data destruction, demonstrating how a single vulnerability can enable multiple attack vectors.
Organizations should immediately implement mitigations including updating to Samba 3.5.10 or later versions that contain proper CSRF protection mechanisms. Network segmentation and access control measures should be implemented to limit exposure of the SWAT interface to trusted networks only. Additionally, administrators should disable the web interface when not actively needed and implement multi-factor authentication for administrative access. The vulnerability underscores the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date software and implementing proper input validation and session management practices to prevent unauthorized administrative actions through web interfaces. Security monitoring should be enhanced to detect unusual administrative activities that might indicate exploitation attempts, particularly around daemon management and user account modifications that are common indicators of CSRF attacks targeting administrative interfaces.