CVE-2014-8372 in AirWatch
Summary
by MITRE
AirWatch by VMware On-Premise 7.3.x before 7.3.3.0 (FP3) allows remote authenticated users to obtain the organizational information and statistics from arbitrary tenants via vectors involving a direct object reference.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/15/2017
CVE-2014-8372 represents a critical direct object reference vulnerability within VMware AirWatch On-Premise version 7.3.x before 7.3.3.0, specifically affecting the administrative interface and tenant management components. This vulnerability falls under the Common Weakness Enumeration category CWE-639, which defines authorization flaws that occur when an application fails to properly verify access permissions for objects. The flaw exists in the way the AirWatch platform handles object references within its web application, allowing authenticated users to manipulate URLs or API calls that reference tenant-specific data without proper authorization checks.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient access control mechanisms in the AirWatch administrative console. When users authenticate to the system, they are granted certain privileges, but the platform fails to validate whether these users have legitimate access to specific tenant data. Attackers can exploit this by crafting malicious requests that directly reference objects belonging to other tenants within the same AirWatch instance. The vulnerability specifically affects the organizational information and statistics endpoints, which contain sensitive data about device management, user enrollment, compliance metrics, and administrative configurations that belong to different organizational units.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data exposure, creating significant risks for enterprise environments that rely on AirWatch for mobile device management. An authenticated attacker can potentially access confidential information from multiple tenants within the same AirWatch instance, including device inventories, user statistics, compliance reports, and configuration data that may reveal sensitive organizational structures. This cross-tenant data leakage can compromise business intelligence, expose internal organizational details, and potentially aid in further targeting of specific organizations within the same management platform. The vulnerability particularly affects multi-tenant deployments where multiple organizations share the same AirWatch instance, making it a serious concern for service providers and large enterprises using consolidated management platforms.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including applying the vendor-provided patch version 7.3.3.0, which addresses the authorization flaw through enhanced access control validation mechanisms. Network segmentation and firewall rules should be implemented to restrict access to AirWatch administrative interfaces, particularly limiting direct exposure to the internet. Additionally, organizations should conduct comprehensive access reviews to ensure that only authorized personnel have access to tenant-specific administrative functions. The vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1078.004, which covers legitimate credentials obtained through compromise, as attackers can leverage legitimate authenticated sessions to access unauthorized data. Security monitoring should be enhanced to detect unusual patterns in tenant data access, particularly when users attempt to access data from tenants they do not belong to. Regular security audits of administrative interfaces and proper principle of least privilege enforcement should be implemented to prevent similar authorization bypass vulnerabilities from occurring in the future.