CVE-2014-0152 in oVirt
Summary
by MITRE
Session fixation vulnerability in the web admin interface in oVirt 3.4.0 and earlier allows remote attackers to hijack web sessions via unspecified vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/28/2022
The CVE-2014-0152 vulnerability represents a critical session fixation weakness discovered in the web admin interface of oVirt versions 3.4.0 and earlier. This vulnerability resides within the authentication and session management mechanisms of the virtualization platform's administrative web console, creating a significant security risk for organizations relying on this infrastructure. The flaw specifically affects the web administration interface, which is a critical component for managing virtualized environments and requires elevated privileges to access. Session fixation vulnerabilities typically occur when an application fails to properly invalidate or regenerate session identifiers upon successful authentication, allowing attackers to maintain persistent access to user sessions.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from improper session handling within the oVirt administrative web interface. When administrators authenticate to the system, the application does not adequately invalidate existing session tokens or generate new unique identifiers, enabling attackers to exploit this weakness through unspecified vectors that likely involve session token manipulation or reuse. This flaw allows remote attackers to establish a session with a known session identifier, which can then be used to impersonate legitimate users and gain unauthorized access to the administrative functions of the virtualization platform. The vulnerability's classification aligns with CWE-384, which specifically addresses session fixation issues in web applications where session tokens are not properly managed during authentication processes.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple unauthorized access, as it enables attackers to potentially compromise entire virtualized environments through the administrative interface. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability could perform administrative actions such as creating, modifying, or deleting virtual machines, manipulating storage configurations, managing user accounts, and accessing sensitive virtualized resources. This represents a severe escalation of privileges from a regular user to a system administrator level, potentially leading to complete system compromise. The attack vector's remote nature means that exploitation does not require physical access to the system, making it particularly dangerous for organizations with internet-facing administrative interfaces.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should immediately implement mitigations including upgrading to oVirt versions that address this issue, typically those beyond 3.4.0. The most effective immediate remediation involves ensuring proper session management practices where session tokens are regenerated upon successful authentication, and existing session identifiers are properly invalidated during the login process. Security measures should include implementing robust session management protocols, regular security audits of web applications, and monitoring for suspicious authentication patterns. This vulnerability also aligns with ATT&CK technique T1563.002, which covers "Access Token Manipulation" through session hijacking, and represents a classic example of how poor session management can lead to privilege escalation in web-based administrative systems. The remediation process should also include network segmentation to limit direct access to administrative interfaces and the implementation of multi-factor authentication to add additional layers of protection against session hijacking attacks.