CVE-2015-4345 in RESTful Web Services Module
Summary
by MITRE
The RESTWS Basic Auth submodule in the RESTful Web Services module 7.x-1.x before 7.x-1.5 and 7.x-2.x before 7.x-2.3 for Drupal caches pages for authenticated requests, which allows remote attackers to obtain sensitive information via unspecified vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/06/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2015-4345 resides within the RESTWS Basic Auth submodule of Drupal's RESTful Web Services module, specifically affecting versions 7.x-1.x prior to 7.x-1.5 and 7.x-2.x prior to 7.x-2.3. This issue represents a critical security flaw that fundamentally undermines the authentication and authorization mechanisms of Drupal-based web applications. The vulnerability stems from the improper handling of authenticated requests within the RESTful Web Services framework, creating an unintended caching mechanism that stores sensitive data for authenticated users.
The technical flaw manifests through the submodule's failure to properly invalidate cached content for authenticated requests, creating a scenario where sensitive information becomes accessible through cached pages. This behavior violates fundamental security principles by allowing attackers to exploit the caching infrastructure to retrieve data that should remain protected. The unspecified vectors mentioned in the description suggest that multiple attack paths may exist, potentially including direct cache enumeration, session manipulation, or exploitation of the caching layer's configuration. This vulnerability directly maps to CWE-200, which describes improper exposure of sensitive information, and specifically aligns with CWE-522, addressing insufficiently protected credentials, as the authentication context becomes compromised through cache manipulation.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple information disclosure, as it fundamentally compromises the security model of Drupal installations. Remote attackers can leverage this flaw to obtain sensitive user data, including but not limited to user profiles, content access information, and potentially authentication tokens. The cached pages may contain not only user-specific data but also administrative information, making this vulnerability particularly dangerous for organizations relying on Drupal for content management. This weakness creates a persistent threat vector that remains active as long as the cache remains populated, potentially allowing attackers to harvest information over extended periods. The vulnerability's impact is amplified in environments where Drupal serves as a backend for web services, as it could enable unauthorized access to API endpoints and data that should be restricted to authenticated users only.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2015-4345 require immediate action to upgrade the affected Drupal modules to versions 7.x-1.5 or 7.x-2.3 respectively, which contain the necessary patches to address the caching behavior. Organizations should implement comprehensive monitoring to detect any unauthorized access patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts, particularly focusing on unusual cache access patterns or requests for authenticated content. The security community recommends disabling the RESTWS Basic Auth submodule when not actively required, as a temporary mitigation measure. Additionally, implementing proper cache invalidation policies and ensuring that authenticated requests are not cached inappropriately should be part of the remediation process. From an ATT&CK perspective, this vulnerability aligns with techniques involving credential access and information gathering, specifically mapping to T1078 for valid accounts and T1005 for data from local system. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls to detect and prevent exploitation attempts targeting this specific vulnerability pattern.