CVE-2015-8473 in Redmine
Summary
by MITRE
The Issues API in Redmine before 2.6.8, 3.0.x before 3.0.6, and 3.1.x before 3.1.2 allows remote authenticated users to obtain sensitive information in changeset messages by leveraging permission to read issues with related changesets from other projects.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/13/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2015-8473 affects Redmine versions prior to 2.6.8, 3.0.6, and 3.1.2, specifically within the Issues API component. This represents a critical information disclosure flaw that enables authenticated attackers to access sensitive data through improper access control mechanisms. The vulnerability stems from insufficient permission checks when retrieving changeset information associated with issues, allowing users to bypass project-level security boundaries. The flaw is categorized under CWE-284 which addresses inadequate access control and improper privileges, making it particularly dangerous in multi-project environments where information isolation is critical.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability exploits the relationship between issues and changesets in Redmine's database structure. When users with read permissions on specific issues attempt to access the Issues API, they can retrieve changeset messages that contain sensitive information from other projects. This occurs because the API does not properly validate whether the requesting user has appropriate permissions to view the changeset data from the related project. The vulnerability leverages the fact that changesets are often shared across projects through issue tracking mechanisms, creating an unintended information flow path that bypasses normal access controls.
Operationally, this vulnerability can have severe consequences for organizations using Redmine for project management and issue tracking. Attackers can gather sensitive information about other projects including code changes, development timelines, security patches, and potentially confidential business information. The impact extends beyond simple information disclosure as it can enable more sophisticated attacks such as reconnaissance for targeted exploitation, social engineering, or competitive intelligence gathering. Organizations with multiple projects and teams working in isolation may find their project boundaries compromised, leading to unauthorized access to proprietary code changes and development artifacts.
The mitigation strategy for CVE-2015-8473 involves upgrading to the patched versions of Redmine that address the access control flaw in the Issues API. Organizations should also implement network segmentation and access controls to limit exposure, while conducting regular security audits of their issue tracking systems. The vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1005 which focuses on data from local system, and T1082 which covers system information discovery, as attackers can use this information to understand system configurations and project structures. Additionally, this vulnerability demonstrates the importance of implementing proper input validation and access control checks in API endpoints, particularly those that aggregate data from multiple sources or projects. Security teams should also consider implementing additional monitoring and logging around API access to detect unauthorized information retrieval attempts.