CVE-2015-8989 in McAfee Vulnerability Manager
Summary
by MITRE
Unsalted password vulnerability in the Enterprise Manager (web portal) component in Intel Security McAfee Vulnerability Manager (MVM) 7.5.8 and earlier allows attackers to more easily decrypt user passwords via brute force attacks against the database.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/06/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2015-8989 represents a critical security flaw within the Intel Security McAfee Vulnerability Manager enterprise solution, specifically affecting version 7.5.8 and earlier deployments. This weakness resides in the Enterprise Manager web portal component and fundamentally compromises the authentication security mechanisms by failing to implement proper password salting techniques. The vulnerability exposes user credentials to significantly increased risk of compromise through automated attack vectors that would otherwise be computationally infeasible to overcome.
The technical implementation flaw stems from the absence of cryptographic salt in the password storage mechanism within the MVM database. In proper cryptographic implementations, password hashing should incorporate unique salt values for each password to prevent attackers from utilizing precomputed rainbow tables or conducting efficient brute force operations against multiple accounts simultaneously. Without these salt values, identical passwords across different user accounts produce identical hash outputs, creating predictable patterns that attackers can exploit to reverse-engineer credentials more efficiently. This weakness directly maps to CWE-759, which describes the use of a one-way hash without a salt, and CWE-760, which addresses the use of a hash function without salt in password storage systems.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple credential theft to encompass broader enterprise security implications. Attackers with access to the MVM database can systematically target user passwords through brute force methods, potentially gaining unauthorized administrative access to the vulnerability management platform. This access could enable threat actors to manipulate security policies, view sensitive vulnerability data, modify scan configurations, or even escalate privileges to compromise underlying systems. The vulnerability particularly affects organizations that rely heavily on centralized vulnerability management solutions, where the compromise of a single administrative account could provide access to comprehensive security data across the enterprise environment. The attack surface is further expanded by the fact that many organizations maintain multiple user accounts with varying privilege levels within the same MVM instance, making the potential impact of successful exploitation significantly more severe.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2015-8989 require immediate implementation of database schema updates to incorporate proper password salting mechanisms across all stored credentials. Organizations should prioritize upgrading to McAfee Vulnerability Manager versions that address this vulnerability, as the manufacturer has released patches to implement proper cryptographic practices. Security teams must conduct comprehensive audits of existing password hashes to identify and rehash any credentials that may have been compromised before the patch implementation. Additionally, network segmentation should be implemented to limit database access to only authorized administrative personnel, and multi-factor authentication should be deployed where possible to add additional layers of protection. The remediation process should also include monitoring for unauthorized database access attempts and implementing intrusion detection systems to identify potential exploitation attempts. Organizations should follow ATT&CK framework tactics related to credential access and defense evasion, as this vulnerability creates opportunities for attackers to establish persistent access and maintain stealth within compromised environments. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of proper cryptographic implementation in enterprise security solutions and serves as a reminder that even minor oversights in security design can lead to significant operational risks across entire organizations.