CVE-2015-4540 in RSA Identity Management
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities in EMC RSA Identity Management & Governance (IMG) before 6.8.1 P18 and 6.9.x before 6.9.1 P6 allow remote authenticated users to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via unspecified vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/19/2022
The CVE-2015-4540 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw affecting EMC RSA Identity Management & Governance software across multiple version ranges. This vulnerability exists within the authentication and authorization framework of the RSA identity governance solution, which is widely deployed in enterprise environments for managing user identities and access controls. The affected versions include all releases prior to 6.8.1 P18 and 6.9.x releases before 6.9.1 P6, indicating this was a significant security gap that persisted across multiple minor releases of the software. The vulnerability specifically impacts authenticated users who can leverage this flaw to execute malicious web scripts or HTML code within the context of other users' sessions.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and output encoding mechanisms within the RSA IMG application. Attackers with valid authentication credentials can exploit this weakness through unspecified vectors that likely involve user-controllable input fields or parameters within the web interface. The vulnerability manifests as a classic XSS attack where malicious payloads are injected into application responses, potentially executing in the browser context of other authenticated users. This type of vulnerability falls under CWE-79 which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws in software applications. The vulnerability exists because the application fails to properly sanitize user-supplied data before rendering it in web responses, allowing attackers to inject malicious scripts that can execute in the victim's browser.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is substantial for organizations relying on RSA IMG for identity governance. An authenticated attacker with access to the system can potentially escalate their privileges or steal session tokens from other users, leading to unauthorized access to sensitive identity management functions. The attack vector typically involves the attacker using legitimate user credentials to access the application and then injecting malicious scripts through forms, parameters, or other input points. This vulnerability can enable attackers to perform actions such as reading or modifying user accounts, accessing privileged information, or conducting session hijacking attacks. The risk is particularly elevated in environments where RSA IMG controls access to critical systems and applications, as successful exploitation could provide attackers with broader access to the enterprise infrastructure. From an adversarial perspective, this vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for command and script interpreter, specifically focusing on web shell execution and script injection attacks.
Organizations should immediately implement the vendor-provided patches for versions 6.8.1 P18 and 6.9.1 P6 to remediate this vulnerability. The patching process should be prioritized in environments where the software is actively used for identity management, particularly those with high-value user accounts or privileged access controls. Additionally, organizations should implement input validation controls and output encoding measures to mitigate the risk of similar vulnerabilities. Security monitoring should be enhanced to detect anomalous user behavior patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. Network segmentation and access controls should be reviewed to limit the potential impact if exploitation occurs. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper input sanitization and output encoding practices in web applications, which are fundamental security controls that should be implemented as part of secure software development lifecycle practices. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls and additional security controls to provide defense-in-depth against similar cross-site scripting vulnerabilities.