CVE-2015-5188 in JBoss Enterprise Application Platform
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the Web Console (web-console) in Red Hat Enterprise Application Platform before 6.4.4 and WildFly (formerly JBoss Application Server) before 2.0.0.CR9 allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of administrators for requests that make arbitrary changes to an instance via vectors involving a file upload using a multipart/form-data submission.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/25/2022
The CVE-2015-5188 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw affecting Red Hat Enterprise Application Platform versions prior to 6.4.4 and WildFly versions before 2.0.0.CR9. This vulnerability resides within the Web Console component, which serves as the primary administrative interface for these application servers. The flaw enables remote attackers to manipulate authenticated administrative sessions through carefully crafted requests that leverage the trust relationship between the web application and its users. The vulnerability specifically manifests when administrators interact with file upload functionalities that utilize multipart/form-data content type, creating a dangerous attack vector that bypasses standard authentication mechanisms.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the absence of proper anti-CSRF tokens in the administrative file upload endpoints. When administrators access the web console to perform file uploads, the application fails to validate that requests originate from legitimate administrative sessions rather than maliciously crafted requests. This validation gap allows attackers to construct malicious web pages or exploit existing vulnerabilities to trick administrators into executing unintended actions. The multipart/form-data submission method becomes particularly dangerous because it enables attackers to craft requests that appear legitimate to the server while actually performing unauthorized administrative operations.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends far beyond simple privilege escalation, as it provides attackers with the ability to make arbitrary changes to application server instances. Successful exploitation could result in complete server compromise, allowing attackers to upload malicious files, modify server configurations, install backdoors, or even execute arbitrary code on the target system. The administrative privileges gained through this attack vector mean that attackers can fundamentally alter the security posture of the entire application server environment, potentially affecting multiple applications hosted on the same platform. This vulnerability particularly threatens organizations relying on these platforms for mission-critical applications where administrative access could lead to data breaches, service disruption, or complete system compromise.
Organizations affected by CVE-2015-5188 should immediately implement the vendor-provided patches for Red Hat Enterprise Application Platform 6.4.4 and WildFly 2.0.0.CR9 releases. Additionally, network segmentation and monitoring should be enhanced to detect unusual administrative file upload activities. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses cross-site request forgery weaknesses in web applications. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to technique T1078 for valid accounts and T1566 for phishing, as attackers would need to convince administrators to visit malicious pages containing the CSRF payload. Organizations should also consider implementing additional security controls such as Content Security Policy headers and enhanced session management to provide defense-in-depth against similar attacks that might exploit other authentication bypass vulnerabilities.