CVE-2015-4093 in Kibana
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Elasticsearch Kibana 4.x before 4.0.3 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via unspecified vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/21/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2015-4093 represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw within Elasticsearch Kibana 4.x versions prior to 4.0.3. This security weakness falls under the Common Weakness Enumeration category CWE-79, which specifically addresses improper neutralization of input during web output, making it a classic XSS vulnerability that can be exploited by malicious actors to execute unauthorized scripts in the context of a victim's browser. Kibana serves as a powerful data visualization and analytics platform that allows users to interact with Elasticsearch data through web interfaces, making it a prime target for attackers seeking to compromise user sessions and access sensitive information. The vulnerability's impact extends beyond simple script injection as it can potentially enable attackers to steal session cookies, perform unauthorized actions on behalf of users, or redirect victims to malicious websites. The unspecified vectors in the original description suggest that the flaw could be exploited through multiple entry points within the Kibana web application, including but not limited to user input fields, URL parameters, or API endpoints that process user-supplied data without proper sanitization.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs when Kibana fails to properly validate and sanitize user-provided input before rendering it in web pages. Attackers can craft malicious payloads that, when processed by the vulnerable Kibana instance, execute unintended JavaScript code in the browsers of authenticated users. This typically happens when the application directly incorporates user input into HTML output without appropriate encoding or escaping mechanisms, allowing attackers to inject HTML tags or JavaScript code that gets executed in the context of the victim's browsing session. The vulnerability's severity is amplified by Kibana's role as an analytics dashboard that often contains sensitive operational data, making it an attractive target for attackers seeking to gain unauthorized access to organizational information. The flaw particularly affects environments where Kibana is used for monitoring and analyzing security events, as attackers could potentially manipulate dashboards to hide malicious activities or extract confidential data through session hijacking techniques.
The operational impact of CVE-2015-4093 extends beyond immediate script execution capabilities to encompass broader security implications for organizations relying on Kibana for data visualization and monitoring purposes. Attackers could leverage this vulnerability to establish persistent access through session hijacking, manipulate dashboard content to mislead administrators, or redirect users to phishing sites designed to capture credentials. The vulnerability's presence in Kibana 4.x versions before 4.0.3 means that organizations using these older releases were exposed to potential compromise without proper mitigation measures. Security teams would need to monitor for exploitation attempts through log analysis and network traffic inspection, as the malicious payloads could be used to establish command and control channels or exfiltrate data from compromised systems. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches and implementing proper input validation mechanisms, as the flaw could be exploited by attackers with minimal technical expertise to gain unauthorized access to sensitive data and system resources.
Organizations affected by CVE-2015-4093 should immediately implement mitigation strategies including updating to Kibana 4.0.3 or later versions, which contain the necessary security patches to address the XSS vulnerability. Additionally, administrators should implement proper input validation and output encoding mechanisms throughout the application, particularly in areas where user input is processed and displayed. Network segmentation and access controls can help limit the potential impact of exploitation by restricting access to Kibana interfaces to authorized personnel only. Security monitoring should be enhanced to detect anomalous user behavior patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts, including unusual dashboard access patterns or attempts to inject malformed input. The vulnerability also underscores the need for comprehensive security awareness training for administrators and users, as social engineering attacks that leverage XSS flaws often rely on user interaction with malicious content. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls to provide additional layers of protection against known attack patterns and ensure that security patches are deployed systematically across all affected systems to prevent exploitation attempts that could lead to complete system compromise and data breaches.