CVE-2014-7850 in FreeIPA
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the Web UI in FreeIPA 4.x before 4.1.2 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via vectors related to breadcrumb navigation.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/12/2024
The CVE-2014-7850 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw in the FreeIPA web user interface that affected versions 4.x prior to 4.1.2. This vulnerability specifically targets the breadcrumb navigation component within the web application's interface, creating a pathway for remote attackers to execute malicious scripts in the context of other users' browsers. FreeIPA is an integrated identity management solution that provides authentication, authorization, and account management services for enterprise environments, making this vulnerability particularly concerning for organizations relying on its web interface for administrative tasks.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and output encoding within the breadcrumb navigation system. When users navigate through the web interface, breadcrumb elements display the current location within the application hierarchy, typically constructed from user-provided or dynamic data. Attackers can exploit this by injecting malicious script code into parameters that are subsequently rendered in the breadcrumb navigation without proper sanitization or encoding. This allows attackers to execute arbitrary JavaScript code in the victim's browser context, potentially leading to session hijacking, credential theft, or privilege escalation within the FreeIPA environment.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it can be leveraged for more sophisticated attacks within the enterprise network. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability can potentially access sensitive administrative functions, view or modify user accounts, and gain unauthorized access to the identity management system. The attack vector is particularly dangerous because it requires no privileged access or authentication to the FreeIPA system itself, making it an attractive target for initial access exploitation. The vulnerability affects the web-based administrative interface, which is commonly used by system administrators to manage user accounts, groups, and authentication policies, thus creating a direct pathway to compromise the entire identity management infrastructure.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2014-7850 should focus on immediate patch deployment to FreeIPA versions 4.1.2 or later, which contain the necessary input validation and output encoding fixes. Organizations should also implement additional security measures such as web application firewalls that can detect and block malicious script injection attempts, and regular security scanning of the web interface for similar vulnerabilities. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-79, which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws in web applications, and can be mapped to ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for scripting languages and T1566 for social engineering attacks that leverage web-based exploits. Regular security assessments of web interfaces, input validation testing, and output encoding verification should be part of ongoing security monitoring procedures to prevent similar vulnerabilities from being introduced in future development cycles.