CVE-2015-5170 in Runtime
Summary
by MITRE
Cloud Foundry Runtime cf-release before 216, UAA before 2.5.2, and Pivotal Cloud Foundry (PCF) Elastic Runtime before 1.7.0 allow remote attackers to conduct cross-site request forgery (CSRF) attacks on PWS and log a user into an arbitrary account by leveraging lack of CSRF checks.
If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/20/2021
The vulnerability described in CVE-2015-5170 represents a critical cross-site request forgery weakness affecting Cloud Foundry runtime environments and Pivotal Cloud Foundry platforms. This security flaw exists in multiple components including cf-release versions prior to 216, UAA versions before 2.5.2, and PCF Elastic Runtime versions before 1.7.0, creating a widespread impact across Cloud Foundry deployments. The vulnerability stems from the absence of proper CSRF protection mechanisms within the authentication and authorization flows of these platforms.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability allows remote attackers to exploit the lack of CSRF token validation in the authentication endpoints. When users interact with the Cloud Foundry platform, particularly during login operations, the system fails to verify that requests originate from legitimate user sessions rather than maliciously crafted requests. This weakness enables attackers to construct specially crafted web pages or links that, when visited by authenticated users, automatically submit requests to the Cloud Foundry platform to perform actions such as logging users into arbitrary accounts. The attack vector leverages the browser's automatic handling of cookies and authentication state, making it particularly dangerous as users may unknowingly execute malicious actions.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple authentication bypasses, as it fundamentally compromises the integrity of user sessions and access controls within Cloud Foundry environments. Attackers can leverage this weakness to impersonate legitimate users, potentially gaining access to sensitive applications, data, and system resources that those users are authorized to access. The vulnerability affects both Pivotal Web Services (PWS) and on-premises PCF deployments, creating a significant risk for organizations relying on Cloud Foundry for their application hosting and management needs. This weakness particularly impacts multi-tenant environments where unauthorized access to user accounts could lead to data breaches, service disruption, and unauthorized resource consumption.
Organizations should implement comprehensive mitigation strategies to address this vulnerability, beginning with immediate upgrades to patched versions of cf-release, UAA, and PCF Elastic Runtime components. The implementation of proper CSRF token validation mechanisms should be prioritized, ensuring that all authentication and state-changing operations require valid tokens that are generated per session and validated server-side. Security configurations should include enabling CSRF protection middleware and implementing robust session management practices that align with industry standards such as those recommended by the Open Web Application Security Project. Additionally, network-level protections including web application firewalls and monitoring systems should be deployed to detect and prevent suspicious authentication-related traffic patterns. The vulnerability maps directly to CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery, and aligns with ATT&CK techniques related to credential access and privilege escalation through web application exploitation. Regular security assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to ensure that similar vulnerabilities are not present in other components of the Cloud Foundry ecosystem, particularly given the interconnected nature of these platform components and their shared authentication mechanisms.