CVE-2015-7936 in MOSCAD IP Gateway
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Motorola Solutions MOSCAD IP Gateway allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of administrators for requests that modify a password.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/20/2018
The CVE-2015-7936 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw discovered in Motorola Solutions MOSCAD IP Gateway software. This vulnerability resides within the authentication mechanisms of the gateway system, specifically affecting the way the device handles user sessions and request validation. The flaw enables remote attackers to exploit the system's trust in legitimate administrative sessions, allowing them to manipulate the authentication state of administrators without possessing valid credentials. The vulnerability specifically targets password modification operations, making it particularly dangerous as it could lead to complete administrative control over the gateway device.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from insufficient validation of request origins and lack of proper anti-CSRF token implementation within the MOSCAD IP Gateway's web interface. When administrators perform administrative tasks through the web-based management interface, the system should verify that requests originate from legitimate sources and contain appropriate validation tokens. However, the vulnerable implementation fails to properly validate these security mechanisms, allowing attackers to craft malicious requests that appear to come from authenticated administrative sessions. This flaw operates at the application layer and specifically affects the HTTP request handling process where session tokens and authentication states are not adequately verified for legitimacy.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple password modification, as it fundamentally compromises the security model of the MOSCAD IP Gateway system. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability could gain unauthorized access to administrative functions, potentially leading to complete system compromise, configuration changes, or data exfiltration. The remote nature of the attack means that threat actors do not require physical access to the device or network presence, making the vulnerability particularly concerning for organizations relying on this gateway for critical communications infrastructure. The attack vector typically involves tricking an authenticated administrator into visiting a malicious website or clicking on a compromised link that automatically submits requests to the vulnerable gateway.
Organizations using Motorola Solutions MOSCAD IP Gateway systems should implement immediate mitigations including the application of vendor-provided security patches and updates as soon as they become available. Network segmentation and access control measures should be enhanced to limit exposure of the gateway to untrusted networks, while monitoring systems should be configured to detect unusual administrative activity patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery weaknesses, and represents a clear violation of the principle of least privilege in web application security. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to T1566 for initial access through malicious web content and T1078 for valid accounts usage, potentially enabling further lateral movement within affected networks.
Security practitioners should conduct thorough vulnerability assessments of their network infrastructure to identify all instances of the affected MOSCAD IP Gateway models and ensure comprehensive patch management processes are in place. Regular security audits of web applications and interfaces should include CSRF testing to prevent similar vulnerabilities from being introduced in future deployments. The incident highlights the importance of implementing robust anti-CSRF mechanisms including proper token generation, validation, and session management practices. Organizations should also consider implementing additional security controls such as two-factor authentication for administrative access and network-based intrusion detection systems to monitor for suspicious traffic patterns associated with CSRF attack attempts.