CVE-2013-4815 in ArcSight Enterprise Security Manager
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the web interface in HP ArcSight Enterprise Security Manager (ESM) before 5.5 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via unspecified vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/24/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2013-4815 represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw within HP ArcSight Enterprise Security Manager version 5.4 and earlier. This web interface vulnerability exposes the security monitoring platform to remote exploitation attempts where malicious actors can inject arbitrary web scripts or HTML content into the system's user interface. The affected product serves as a centralized security information and event management solution that organizations rely upon for threat detection and incident response, making this vulnerability particularly concerning for enterprise security infrastructure.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and output encoding within the web interface components of ArcSight ESM. Attackers can leverage this weakness through unspecified vectors to execute malicious code within the context of a victim's browser session. This type of vulnerability falls under CWE-79 which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws in web applications, where the system fails to properly sanitize user-supplied input before rendering it in web pages. The vulnerability allows for potential session hijacking, data exfiltration, and unauthorized access to sensitive security information managed by the platform.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script injection as it compromises the integrity of the entire security monitoring environment. Organizations using affected versions of ArcSight ESM face potential exposure of their security event data, configuration information, and user credentials through browser-based attacks. The attack surface includes any user interacting with the web interface who might be tricked into clicking malicious links or visiting compromised web pages. This vulnerability directly impacts the principle of least privilege and can enable attackers to escalate their privileges within the security operations center, potentially leading to complete compromise of the security infrastructure. According to ATT&CK framework, this vulnerability maps to T1059.007 for script injection and T1566 for phishing techniques that could be leveraged to exploit the XSS flaw.
Organizations should immediately implement mitigations including upgrading to HP ArcSight ESM version 5.5 or later, which contains the necessary patches to address this vulnerability. Network segmentation and web application firewalls can provide additional layers of protection while awaiting the official security updates. Regular security assessments of web interfaces and input validation mechanisms should be conducted to prevent similar vulnerabilities from emerging in other components of the security infrastructure. Security teams must also implement comprehensive monitoring for suspicious activities related to user sessions and web interface interactions to detect potential exploitation attempts. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date security software and implementing proper input sanitization practices across all web-based security tools to prevent unauthorized access to critical enterprise security systems.