CVE-2014-7190 in Openfiler
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerabilities in Openfiler 2.99.1 allow remote attackers to hijack the authentication of administrators for requests that (1) shutdown or (2) reboot the server via a request to admin/system_shutdown.html.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/08/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-7190 represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw in Openfiler 2.99.1, a network-attached storage management platform. This vulnerability resides in the administrative interface and specifically targets the system shutdown and reboot functionality. The flaw allows remote attackers to execute unauthorized administrative actions by tricking authenticated users into visiting malicious web pages or clicking on compromised links. The attack exploits the absence of proper CSRF protection mechanisms in the targeted endpoints, particularly admin/system_shutdown.html which serves as the entry point for both shutdown and reboot operations.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from the lack of anti-CSRF tokens or validation mechanisms within the affected administrative pages. When administrators navigate to the vulnerable system shutdown page, the application fails to verify the authenticity of the request origin or validate that the request was genuinely initiated by the authenticated user. This absence of request validation creates a pathway for attackers to craft malicious requests that, when executed by an authenticated administrator, can result in unintended system operations. The vulnerability specifically affects the administrative shutdown and reboot functionality, which are critical system operations that can severely disrupt service availability and potentially cause data loss or system instability.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant as it provides attackers with the ability to perform critical administrative actions without proper authorization. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability can remotely shut down or reboot a server, potentially causing denial of service conditions that affect storage availability for multiple users and applications. The attack requires only that the victim be authenticated to the Openfiler management interface, making it particularly dangerous in environments where administrators frequently access the system from various locations. This vulnerability can be exploited in conjunction with social engineering techniques to trick administrators into inadvertently executing malicious requests, especially when they visit compromised websites or click on malicious links.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery weaknesses in software applications. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to techniques involving privilege escalation and execution of malicious commands through authenticated sessions. The attack vector falls under the category of web application exploitation where attackers leverage the trust relationship between the victim's browser and the target application. Organizations using Openfiler 2.99.1 should immediately implement mitigations including the addition of anti-CSRF tokens to all administrative endpoints, implementing proper request origin validation, and ensuring that administrative functions require additional authentication factors beyond simple session-based authentication. Regular security updates and patch management procedures should be enforced to prevent exploitation of known vulnerabilities in storage management systems.
This vulnerability demonstrates the importance of implementing comprehensive security controls in administrative interfaces, particularly for systems that manage critical infrastructure components. The lack of CSRF protection in administrative functions represents a fundamental security flaw that can be exploited to gain unauthorized control over system operations. Organizations should conduct regular security assessments of their storage management platforms and ensure that all administrative interfaces implement proper authentication and authorization mechanisms. The vulnerability also highlights the need for network segmentation and monitoring of administrative access to prevent unauthorized exploitation attempts. Implementing web application firewalls and intrusion detection systems can help identify and prevent exploitation attempts targeting such CSRF vulnerabilities in storage management environments.