CVE-2011-3846 in System Management Homepage
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in HP System Management Homepage (SMH) 6.2.2.7 allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of administrators for requests that create administrative accounts.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/22/2025
The CVE-2011-3846 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw within HP System Management Homepage version 6.2.2.7, a web-based management interface commonly used for server hardware monitoring and configuration. This vulnerability resides in the authentication and session management mechanisms of the web application, specifically failing to properly validate the origin of HTTP requests. The flaw enables malicious actors to craft specially crafted web pages or links that, when visited by an authenticated administrator, automatically submit requests to the vulnerable SMH interface without the user's knowledge or consent. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it operates at the application layer and leverages the trust relationship between the web application and its authenticated users.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the absence of anti-CSRF tokens or similar protective mechanisms in the administrative account creation endpoints within HP SMH. When an administrator accesses the management interface, their session remains active and authenticated, but the application fails to verify that requests originate from legitimate sources within the same domain. This allows attackers to construct malicious HTML pages containing embedded requests that, when executed in the context of an administrator's browser, perform administrative actions without explicit user approval. The vulnerability specifically targets the account creation functionality, enabling attackers to establish new administrative accounts with elevated privileges, thereby compromising the entire system's security posture.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple privilege escalation, as it fundamentally undermines the security model of the HP System Management Homepage. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability can create persistent administrative accounts, potentially gaining long-term access to the system while remaining undetected. This capability enables a wide range of malicious activities including data exfiltration, system modification, privilege escalation to other systems, and potential lateral movement within network environments. The vulnerability is particularly concerning for enterprise environments where HP SMH is commonly deployed for server management, as it provides attackers with a straightforward path to establish backdoors and maintain persistent access to critical infrastructure. The attack surface is further expanded since the vulnerability does not require any special privileges or complex exploitation techniques beyond crafting malicious web content.
Organizations should implement multiple layers of mitigation strategies to address this vulnerability effectively. Immediate remediation involves applying the latest security patches provided by HP, which typically include the implementation of proper CSRF token validation mechanisms and enhanced session management controls. Network segmentation and access controls should be strengthened to limit exposure of the SMH interface to only authorized users and systems. Additionally, implementing web application firewalls with CSRF protection capabilities and regular security auditing of web applications can help detect and prevent exploitation attempts. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses cross-site request forgery issues, and falls under ATT&CK technique T1078 for valid accounts and T1566 for credential access through social engineering. Organizations must also conduct regular security assessments of their management interfaces and implement principle of least privilege controls to minimize the potential impact of such vulnerabilities.