CVE-2015-0542 in RSA Archer GRC
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerabilities in EMC RSA Archer GRC 5.5 SP1 before P3 allow remote attackers to hijack the authentication of arbitrary users.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/12/2022
The CVE-2015-0542 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery issue affecting EMC RSA Archer GRC 5.5 SP1 before P3 versions. This vulnerability resides within the web application framework of the RSA Archer Governance, Risk, and Compliance platform, which is widely used for enterprise-level risk management and compliance processes. The flaw enables malicious actors to perform unauthorized actions on behalf of authenticated users by exploiting the absence of proper CSRF protection mechanisms in the application's request handling process.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from the application's failure to validate the origin of HTTP requests, particularly those involving state-changing operations within the web interface. Attackers can craft malicious web pages or emails containing specially crafted requests that, when executed by an authenticated user, will be processed by the Archer application without proper verification of the request source. This occurs because the application relies solely on session cookies for authentication validation, without implementing anti-CSRF tokens or referer header checks that would normally prevent such attacks. The vulnerability specifically impacts the authentication and authorization mechanisms of the platform, allowing attackers to perform administrative actions, modify user permissions, or access sensitive compliance data through the hijacked sessions.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe for organizations relying on RSA Archer for governance and compliance management. An attacker exploiting this flaw could gain unauthorized access to critical risk assessment data, manipulate compliance reporting, modify user access controls, or even escalate privileges within the system. The remote nature of the attack means that threat actors can target users from anywhere on the internet without requiring physical access to the network. Organizations using this platform for managing sensitive regulatory compliance data face significant risks including regulatory violations, data breaches, and potential legal consequences. The vulnerability affects the fundamental security model of the application, undermining the trust model that organizations rely upon for maintaining secure access to their governance and compliance information.
Organizations should immediately apply the vendor-provided patch P3 to address this vulnerability, as it represents a critical security flaw that can be exploited remotely. The mitigation strategy should also include implementing additional security controls such as web application firewalls that can detect and block suspicious request patterns, enabling strict referer header validation, and implementing proper session management practices. Security teams should conduct thorough assessments of their Archer GRC implementations to identify any other potential CSRF vulnerabilities within related applications or web services. This 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 the privilege escalation and credential access tactics, as it allows attackers to hijack existing user sessions and potentially gain elevated privileges within the system. Organizations should also consider implementing network segmentation and monitoring for unusual authentication patterns to detect potential exploitation attempts. The incident highlights the importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches and following secure coding practices that include proper CSRF protection mechanisms in web applications.