CVE-2014-8073 in OpenMRS
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in OpenMRS 2.1 Standalone Edition allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of administrators for requests that add a new user via a Save User action to admin/users/user.form.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/03/2022
The CVE-2014-8073 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw in the OpenMRS 2.1 Standalone Edition healthcare management system. This vulnerability specifically targets the administrative user management functionality, creating a significant security risk for healthcare organizations that rely on this open-source platform for patient data management. The vulnerability exists within the user account creation process, where an attacker can craft malicious requests that, when executed by an authenticated administrator, will add unauthorized users to the system without the administrator's knowledge or consent.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the absence of proper anti-forgery tokens or validation mechanisms in the admin/users/user.form endpoint. When an administrator visits a malicious website or clicks on a crafted link while authenticated to the OpenMRS system, the attacker can exploit the lack of CSRF protection to automatically submit requests that create new user accounts. This flaw operates at the application layer and leverages the administrator's existing session to execute unauthorized actions, bypassing normal authentication checks that would typically require explicit user interaction or token validation.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple unauthorized user creation, as it fundamentally undermines the principle of least privilege and administrative control within the healthcare system. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability could establish persistent access points within the organization's medical records system, potentially leading to data breaches, unauthorized access to patient information, and compromise of sensitive healthcare data. The vulnerability is particularly concerning in healthcare environments where HIPAA compliance and data protection regulations are paramount, as unauthorized user creation could facilitate data exfiltration or system manipulation.
Organizations using OpenMRS 2.1 Standalone Edition should immediately implement mitigations including the deployment of anti-forgery tokens for all administrative actions, proper session management controls, and input validation mechanisms. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses cross-site request forgery weaknesses in web applications, and represents a critical gap in the application's security architecture that violates fundamental web security principles. This flaw also maps to ATT&CK technique T1078.004, which covers valid accounts for lateral movement, as the created accounts could be used for further system compromise.
The remediation approach should involve patching the application to implement proper CSRF protection mechanisms, including the generation and validation of unique tokens for each user session. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing web application firewalls, monitoring for unusual administrative activities, and conducting regular security assessments of their healthcare information systems. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of comprehensive security testing during application development and highlights the need for robust authentication and authorization controls in sensitive healthcare environments where patient data security is paramount.