CVE-2013-4689 in Junos
Summary
by MITRE
J-Web in Juniper Junos before 10.4R13, 11.4 before 11.4R7, 12.1R before 12.1R6, 12.1X44 before 12.1X44-D15, 12.1x45 before 12.1X45-D10, 12.2 before 12.2R3, 12.3 before 12.3R2, and 13.1 before 13.1R3 allow remote attackers to bypass the cross-site request forgery (CSRF) protection mechanism and hijack the authentication of administrators for requests that (1) create new administrator accounts or (2) have other unspecified impacts.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/25/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2013-4689 represents a critical security flaw in Juniper Junos operating system versions prior to specific patch releases. This weakness resides within the J-Web administrative interface component that serves as the primary web-based management portal for Juniper network devices. The vulnerability specifically targets the cross-site request forgery protection mechanism, which is a fundamental security control designed to prevent unauthorized actions from being executed on behalf of authenticated users. The flaw affects multiple major release branches including 10.4R12, 11.4R6, 12.1R5, and various other versions across the Junos 12.x and 13.1 release lines, indicating a widespread impact across the Juniper product portfolio.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate validation of authentication tokens within the J-Web interface. Attackers can exploit this weakness by crafting malicious web pages or links that, when visited by an authenticated administrator, automatically submit requests to the vulnerable Junos device. The CSRF protection mechanism fails to properly verify that requests originate from legitimate administrative sessions, allowing unauthorized users to perform administrative actions without proper authentication. This flaw enables attackers to create new administrator accounts with elevated privileges or execute other unspecified but potentially devastating operations that could compromise the entire network infrastructure. The vulnerability operates at the application layer and leverages the trust relationship between the web interface and authenticated users, making it particularly dangerous for network administrators who frequently access administrative interfaces.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends far beyond simple unauthorized access, as it provides attackers with the capability to establish persistent administrative control over affected network devices. When an administrator visits a malicious website or clicks on a compromised link, the attacker can silently create new administrative accounts, potentially with full system privileges, without requiring knowledge of existing administrator credentials. This capability undermines the fundamental security model of network device management and can lead to complete network compromise. The vulnerability's ability to affect multiple release branches indicates that organizations running various Junos versions across their network infrastructure face similar risks, potentially requiring extensive patching efforts. The unspecified nature of other impacts suggests that additional attack vectors may exist beyond account creation, making the full scope of potential damage difficult to predict and mitigate.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should prioritize immediate patch deployment across all impacted Junos device versions, as recommended by Juniper's security advisories and the National Vulnerability Database. The mitigation strategy should include verifying that all devices have been updated to the appropriate patch releases, with particular attention to the specific version requirements mentioned in the vulnerability description. Network administrators should also implement additional monitoring measures to detect suspicious administrative activities, as the vulnerability allows for stealthy account creation that may not immediately trigger standard security alerts. From a compliance perspective, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses cross-site request forgery weaknesses in web applications, and maps to ATT&CK technique T1078 which covers valid accounts for persistence and privilege escalation. Organizations should also conduct comprehensive security assessments to identify any potential unauthorized administrative accounts that may have been created as a result of exploitation attempts, and consider implementing additional security controls such as multi-factor authentication for administrative access to further reduce risk exposure.