CVE-2014-3536 in CloudForms Management Engine
Summary
by MITRE
CFME (CloudForms Management Engine) 5: RHN account information is logged to top_output.log during registration
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/12/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-3536 affects CloudForms Management Engine version 5, specifically exposing sensitive RHN (Red Hat Network) account information through log files during the registration process. This represents a critical information disclosure flaw that undermines the security posture of managed systems by inadvertently persisting authentication credentials in accessible log files. The issue stems from insufficient sanitization of sensitive data during system registration procedures, creating an attack surface that adversaries can exploit to gain unauthorized access to system credentials.
The technical implementation flaw occurs within the registration workflow of CFME where RHN account credentials and associated information are written to the top_output.log file without proper obfuscation or removal of sensitive components. This logging mechanism fails to distinguish between operational diagnostic information and confidential authentication data, resulting in the persistence of potentially exploitable credential information on the filesystem. The vulnerability manifests as a direct consequence of poor input validation and output sanitization practices, where the system treats all registration data uniformly without considering the security implications of credential exposure.
Operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple credential exposure to encompass broader security implications including potential privilege escalation, unauthorized system access, and compromised infrastructure integrity. Attackers who gain access to the affected system can retrieve stored credentials from the log file and potentially use them to access additional systems within the network perimeter that share similar authentication mechanisms. This creates a cascading security risk where a single compromised log file can serve as an entry point for further lateral movement and persistent access within the enterprise environment, violating fundamental security principles of least privilege and defense in depth.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-209, which addresses information exposure through log files containing sensitive data, and demonstrates characteristics consistent with ATT&CK technique T1562.001 related to "Disable or Modify Tools" and T1078.004 related to "Valid Accounts: Cloud Accounts" in compromised environments. Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including log file access controls, regular log rotation with sensitive data sanitization, and comprehensive monitoring for unauthorized access to log directories. System administrators must ensure that credential information is never logged in plain text format and that all authentication-related data undergoes proper sanitization before any logging operations occur, implementing automated tools to detect and prevent such exposures in real-time monitoring environments.