CVE-2012-2959 in Identity Management Suite
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in password-manager/changePasswords.do in BMC Identity Management Suite 7.5.00.103 allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of administrators for requests that change passwords.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/27/2024
The CVE-2012-2959 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw within the BMC Identity Management Suite version 7.5.00.103, specifically targeting the password-manager/changePasswords.do endpoint. This vulnerability exposes the system to remote attack vectors where malicious actors can manipulate authenticated administrator sessions to execute unauthorized password change operations. The flaw fundamentally undermines the authentication mechanisms by enabling attackers to forge requests that appear legitimate to the system, exploiting the trust relationship between the web application and its authenticated users. The vulnerability resides in the application's failure to implement proper anti-CSRF measures, leaving the password management functionality susceptible to exploitation by attackers who can craft malicious requests that leverage existing administrator sessions.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from the absence of anti-CSRF tokens or similar session validation mechanisms within the password change functionality. When administrators access the password-manager/changePasswords.do endpoint, the application does not verify the authenticity of the request origin or validate that the request was genuinely initiated by the authenticated user. This omission creates a pathway for attackers to construct malicious web pages or email attachments that contain embedded requests to the vulnerable endpoint, which automatically execute within the context of an administrator's active session. The flaw operates at the application layer and can be exploited without requiring any special privileges or authentication credentials beyond the ability to interact with the target system through a web browser.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends far beyond simple privilege escalation, as it provides attackers with direct access to administrative functions that control user authentication and access management. Successful exploitation can result in complete compromise of the identity management system, enabling attackers to modify administrator credentials, create new administrative accounts, or manipulate user access rights. This vulnerability directly affects the integrity and availability of the identity management infrastructure, potentially leading to widespread unauthorized access throughout the organization's systems that rely on BMC Identity Management Suite for authentication. The consequences include potential data breaches, unauthorized system modifications, and complete loss of control over user authentication processes within the affected environment.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should immediately implement mitigations including the deployment of anti-CSRF tokens for all sensitive administrative functions, enabling proper session management controls, and implementing request origin validation mechanisms. The fix should involve adding unique, unpredictable tokens to each password change request that are validated server-side before processing the operation. Additionally, implementing proper HTTP headers such as X-Frame-Options and Content Security Policy can help prevent the exploitation through malicious embedding techniques. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses cross-site request forgery weaknesses, and maps to ATT&CK technique T1566.002 for phishing attacks and T1078 for valid accounts usage. The remediation process should include thorough security testing to ensure that all administrative endpoints properly validate request authenticity and that session management controls are robust enough to prevent similar vulnerabilities from existing in other parts of the application.