CVE-2011-4085 in Jboss Enterprise Soa Platform
Summary
by MITRE
The servlets invoked by httpha-invoker in JBoss Enterprise Application Platform before 5.1.2, SOA Platform before 5.2.0, BRMS Platform before 5.3.0, and Portal Platform before 4.3 CP07 perform access control only for the GET and POST methods, which allow remote attackers to bypass authentication by sending a request with a different method. NOTE: this vulnerability exists because of a CVE-2010-0738 regression.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/20/2021
The vulnerability described in CVE-2011-4085 represents a critical authentication bypass flaw affecting multiple JBoss platform components including Enterprise Application Platform, SOA Platform, BRMS Platform, and Portal Platform. This security weakness stems from incomplete access control implementation within the httpha-invoker servlets, which were designed to handle various HTTP methods but failed to enforce proper authentication checks across all request types. The vulnerability specifically impacts versions prior to 5.1.2 for Enterprise Application Platform, 5.2.0 for SOA Platform, 5.3.0 for BRMS Platform, and 4.3 CP07 for Portal Platform, creating a significant attack surface that adversaries could exploit to gain unauthorized access to protected resources.
The technical flaw manifests in the improper implementation of access control mechanisms within the affected servlets. While the system correctly validates authentication for GET and POST HTTP methods, it fails to apply the same security checks to other HTTP methods such as PUT, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS, and TRACE. This inconsistency creates a method-based bypass opportunity where remote attackers can craft malicious requests using alternative HTTP methods to circumvent the authentication layer entirely. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it represents a regression from previously fixed issues, specifically referencing CVE-2010-0738, indicating that security improvements were either reverted or inadequately implemented in subsequent releases. This regression demonstrates the complexity of maintaining secure authentication mechanisms in enterprise application servers where multiple components interact through various HTTP protocols.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple unauthorized access, as it can enable attackers to execute arbitrary commands, modify system configurations, access sensitive data, and potentially establish persistent backdoors within the affected platforms. Attackers exploiting this vulnerability can leverage the bypass to gain full administrative privileges over the application server, potentially compromising entire enterprise environments. The distributed nature of JBoss platforms means that successful exploitation could affect multiple applications running on the same server instance, creating cascading security failures. Organizations using affected versions face significant risk of data breaches, service disruption, and compliance violations, particularly in regulated environments where proper access controls are mandatory.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate patching of all affected JBoss platform versions to their respective secure releases, with particular attention to ensuring that the fix properly addresses the HTTP method handling across all servlet implementations. Organizations should implement network segmentation and firewall rules to restrict access to the httpha-invoker endpoints, while also conducting comprehensive security assessments to identify any potential exploitation attempts. Additional protective measures include implementing proper input validation, monitoring HTTP method usage patterns, and deploying intrusion detection systems that can identify suspicious requests using non-standard HTTP methods. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-284 which addresses improper access control, and maps to ATT&CK technique T1078 for valid accounts and T1566 for malicious file execution, highlighting the multi-faceted nature of the threat landscape this vulnerability creates for enterprise security operations.