CVE-2013-3512 in GroundWork Monitor
Summary
by MITRE
The Cacti component in GroundWork Monitor Enterprise 6.7.0 does not properly perform authorization checks, which allows remote authenticated users to read or modify configuration settings via unspecified vectors, as demonstrated by reading credentials.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/14/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2013-3512 affects the Cacti monitoring component within GroundWork Monitor Enterprise version 6.7.0, representing a critical authorization bypass flaw that undermines the security posture of enterprise monitoring systems. This issue stems from inadequate access control mechanisms that fail to properly validate user permissions before allowing configuration modifications or data retrieval operations. The vulnerability specifically impacts the authorization framework within the Cacti component, which serves as a crucial data collection and visualization tool for network monitoring infrastructure.
The technical implementation flaw manifests in the improper handling of authentication tokens and permission verification processes within the GroundWork Monitor Enterprise environment. Attackers with valid but limited user credentials can exploit this weakness to escalate their privileges and gain unauthorized access to sensitive configuration data. The vulnerability's impact extends beyond simple data reading capabilities, as demonstrated by the ability to extract credentials, which represents a severe compromise of system security. This authorization bypass allows malicious actors to manipulate monitoring configurations, potentially leading to data exfiltration, system disruption, or further lateral movement within the network infrastructure.
The operational implications of this vulnerability are particularly concerning for enterprise environments that rely on comprehensive monitoring solutions for security operations and network management. Organizations using GroundWork Monitor Enterprise 6.7.0 face significant risk of unauthorized access to critical infrastructure monitoring data, including but not limited to system credentials, network topology information, and performance metrics that could reveal sensitive operational details. The remote nature of the attack vector means that threat actors can exploit this vulnerability from external networks without requiring physical access to the monitored systems, making the attack surface more expansive and the potential impact more severe.
Security practitioners should recognize this vulnerability as a variant of CWE-285, which specifically addresses improper authorization within software applications. The issue aligns with ATT&CK technique T1078.004, which covers valid accounts with compromised credentials, as attackers can leverage legitimate user access to exploit authorization gaps. Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including upgrading to patched versions of GroundWork Monitor Enterprise, implementing additional access controls, and conducting thorough security assessments of their monitoring infrastructure. Network segmentation and monitoring of configuration changes can help detect unauthorized access attempts, while regular security audits should verify that proper authorization controls are in place to prevent similar vulnerabilities from being exploited in other components of the monitoring ecosystem.