CVE-2015-2248 in SonicWall Secure Remote Access Appliance
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the user portal in Dell SonicWALL Secure Remote Access (SRA) products with firmware before 7.5.1.0-38sv and 8.x before 8.0.0.1-16sv allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of users for requests that create bookmarks via a crafted request to cgi-bin/editBookmark.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/19/2024
The CVE-2015-2248 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw discovered in Dell SonicWALL Secure Remote Access products, specifically affecting firmware versions prior to 7.5.1.0-38sv and 8.x versions before 8.0.0.1-16sv. This vulnerability resides within the user portal component of the SonicWALL SRA appliances, which are widely deployed for remote access and secure network connectivity solutions. The flaw enables remote attackers to manipulate authenticated sessions by crafting malicious requests that leverage the victim's existing authentication context. The vulnerability specifically targets the bookmark creation functionality through the cgi-bin/editBookmark endpoint, making it particularly dangerous for environments where users frequently interact with bookmark management features. This type of vulnerability falls under CWE-352, which categorizes cross-site request forgery as a fundamental web application security weakness where the application fails to validate that requests originate from legitimate sources.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability exploits the lack of proper anti-CSRF token validation within the affected SonicWALL SRA user portal. When a user is authenticated to the system, their session cookies remain active and can be leveraged by an attacker who crafts a malicious request containing parameters for bookmark creation. The vulnerability does not require any special privileges or authentication from the attacker to execute the attack, as it operates entirely within the context of the authenticated user's session. The cgi-bin/editBookmark endpoint serves as the attack vector because it processes bookmark creation requests without sufficient validation of the request source. This flaw allows attackers to perform unauthorized actions such as creating, modifying, or deleting bookmarks on behalf of authenticated users. The attack typically involves embedding a malicious link or form in a webpage that, when visited by an authenticated user, automatically submits a bookmark creation request to the vulnerable SonicWALL appliance.
The operational impact of CVE-2015-2248 extends beyond simple bookmark manipulation, as it represents a significant compromise of user session integrity and application security. An attacker could potentially leverage this vulnerability to escalate privileges, modify user configurations, or gain unauthorized access to sensitive network resources that are typically protected by the SonicWALL appliance's authentication mechanisms. The vulnerability affects organizations that rely heavily on remote access capabilities, as it could enable attackers to establish persistent access points through bookmark manipulation or by creating malicious bookmarks that redirect users to compromised resources. In enterprise environments where SonicWALL appliances serve as primary remote access gateways, this vulnerability could facilitate broader attacks including data exfiltration, lateral movement, or disruption of business continuity. The impact is particularly severe in organizations with limited network segmentation or those that do not implement additional security controls to protect against session hijacking attacks. Organizations using these vulnerable appliances may experience unauthorized access to network resources, potential data breaches, and compromise of remote access infrastructure.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including applying the firmware patches released by Dell for versions 7.5.1.0-38sv and 8.0.0.1-16sv, which contain the necessary CSRF token validation mechanisms. Network administrators should also consider implementing additional security controls such as mandatory session timeout policies, enhanced monitoring of bookmark creation activities, and regular security assessments of remote access infrastructure. The vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566.002 which involves credential access through social engineering and session hijacking, making it particularly relevant for organizations that have not implemented comprehensive session management controls. Security teams should also review their current web application firewall rules to ensure that the cgi-bin endpoint is properly protected against unauthorized access attempts and that all authenticated requests contain appropriate validation tokens. Additionally, user education regarding suspicious links and the importance of not visiting untrusted websites while authenticated to sensitive systems should be emphasized as a complementary security measure to address the social engineering aspects of this vulnerability.