CVE-2013-3280 in Authentication Agent
Summary
by MITRE
EMC RSA Authentication Agent 7.1.x before 7.1.2 for Web for Internet Information Services has a fail-open design, which allows remote attackers to bypass intended access restrictions via vectors that trigger an agent crash.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/01/2021
The CVE-2013-3280 vulnerability affects EMC RSA Authentication Agent 7.1.x versions prior to 7.1.2 when deployed on Internet Information Services web servers. This represents a critical design flaw in the authentication mechanism that fundamentally undermines the security posture of systems relying on this agent for access control. The vulnerability manifests as a fail-open behavior where the authentication process does not properly handle failure conditions, allowing unauthorized access when the agent encounters errors or crashes during authentication attempts.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from improper error handling within the RSA Authentication Agent component. When the agent experiences conditions that would normally cause it to reject authentication attempts, such as crashes or unexpected error states, the system fails to enforce access restrictions properly. Instead of denying access when authentication fails, the agent permits access to authenticated resources, creating a security boundary violation that adversaries can exploit. This fail-open design pattern directly violates security principles that require systems to fail securely, ensuring that when components malfunction, access is denied rather than granted.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability creates significant risk for organizations deploying RSA Authentication Agent in web server environments. Attackers can leverage this weakness by triggering agent crashes or error conditions through carefully crafted requests or by exploiting other vulnerabilities that cause the authentication module to malfunction. The impact extends beyond simple privilege escalation as it fundamentally compromises the authentication infrastructure, potentially allowing attackers to bypass multi-factor authentication controls entirely. This vulnerability is particularly dangerous in environments where the agent is responsible for protecting sensitive data or critical systems, as it essentially renders the authentication mechanism ineffective during failure conditions.
The security implications of CVE-2013-3280 align with CWE-390, which addresses "Error Handling Flaws" in software design, specifically the failure to properly handle error conditions that can lead to security vulnerabilities. This weakness falls under the broader category of security by design principles that require systems to fail securely and maintain their security guarantees even when components fail or encounter unexpected states. The vulnerability also maps to ATT&CK technique T1550.001, which covers "Use of Authentication System" and represents how attackers can exploit authentication failures to gain unauthorized access to systems. Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including upgrading to RSA Authentication Agent 7.1.2 or later versions, implementing additional monitoring for authentication agent failures, and conducting security assessments to identify systems vulnerable to this specific fail-open behavior.
The remediation strategy involves patching the RSA Authentication Agent to version 7.1.2 or higher, which addresses the underlying error handling implementation. Organizations should also consider implementing additional security controls such as intrusion detection systems that monitor for authentication failures, network segmentation to limit access to authentication endpoints, and comprehensive logging of authentication events to detect exploitation attempts. Security teams must also review their incident response procedures to ensure they account for fail-open scenarios where authentication systems may appear to function normally while actually permitting unauthorized access. This vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of robust error handling and secure system design principles in authentication systems, where failure conditions must never compromise security boundaries.