CVE-2013-2049 in CloudForms 2 Management Engine
Summary
by MITRE
Red Hat CloudForms 2 Management Engine (CFME) allows remote attackers to conduct session tampering attacks by leveraging use of a static secret_token.rb secret.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/01/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2013-2049 affects Red Hat CloudForms 2 Management Engine, a comprehensive cloud management platform that provides infrastructure automation and orchestration capabilities. This security flaw represents a critical session management weakness that undermines the authentication and authorization mechanisms of the system. The vulnerability stems from the improper implementation of session handling within the CFME framework, specifically through the use of a static secret_token.rb file that remains unchanged across deployments. This configuration creates a persistent security risk that can be exploited by remote attackers to manipulate user sessions and potentially gain unauthorized access to the management console.
The technical flaw manifests through the use of a hardcoded static secret token that serves as the cryptographic foundation for session management within the application. This static token, stored in the secret_token.rb file, is typically generated once during initial setup and never rotated or updated. When attackers obtain this secret token through various means such as reconnaissance, information disclosure, or previous exploitation attempts, they can forge session cookies and impersonate legitimate users within the CFME environment. The vulnerability directly relates to CWE-310, which addresses cryptographic weaknesses in applications, specifically focusing on the use of predictable or static cryptographic keys for session management. This weakness enables attackers to bypass authentication mechanisms and execute unauthorized operations within the cloud management platform.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple session hijacking, as it fundamentally compromises the integrity and confidentiality of the entire CloudForms management environment. Remote attackers who successfully exploit this weakness can gain administrative privileges, access sensitive configuration data, manipulate virtual machine deployments, and potentially escalate their privileges to compromise underlying infrastructure. The implications are particularly severe given that CFME serves as a central management platform for cloud environments, making it a prime target for attackers seeking persistent access to enterprise cloud infrastructures. This vulnerability can be leveraged as an initial access vector for broader attacks, potentially leading to data breaches, service disruption, and unauthorized resource consumption within cloud environments managed by CFME.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations to address this vulnerability, including the generation of unique and cryptographically secure secret tokens for each deployment, implementing proper session management protocols, and establishing regular token rotation procedures. The remediation process requires administrators to replace the static secret_token.rb file with a dynamically generated token that follows industry best practices for cryptographic key generation. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing additional security controls such as session timeout mechanisms, secure cookie attributes, and network-level protections to reduce the attack surface. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1548.001, which focuses on abuse of credentials for privilege escalation, and represents a classic example of how weak cryptographic implementations can undermine entire security frameworks. Regular security assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar static token implementations across the organization's infrastructure, ensuring comprehensive protection against session-based attacks.