CVE-2016-0720 in PCS
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in pcsd web UI in pcs before 0.9.149.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/01/2022
The CVE-2016-0720 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw within the pcsd web user interface of the pcs software suite prior to version 0.9.149. This vulnerability resides in the privilege control mechanism that governs administrative operations within the pcs cluster management system, specifically affecting the web-based administrative interface that allows users to configure and manage high-availability cluster resources. The flaw manifests when the web UI fails to properly validate or authenticate requests originating from external domains, creating a pathway for malicious actors to execute unauthorized administrative actions on behalf of authenticated users. The vulnerability directly impacts the integrity and confidentiality of cluster configurations, potentially allowing attackers to manipulate cluster resources, modify service configurations, or even disable critical cluster functionality without proper authorization.
This CSRF vulnerability stems from the absence of proper anti-CSRF token validation mechanisms within the pcsd web interface. When legitimate users authenticate to the administrative web portal, their sessions remain active and trusted, but the web application does not adequately verify that subsequent requests originate from the legitimate user interface rather than from maliciously crafted web pages or embedded scripts. The flaw operates under the principle that authenticated requests can be forged by attackers who craft malicious HTML pages or exploit other web-based attack vectors to trick authenticated users into performing unintended administrative actions. The vulnerability is classified as a CWE-352 - Cross-Site Request Forgery, which is a well-documented weakness in web applications where the application fails to validate that requests originate from the same origin as the web application itself.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple unauthorized access to encompass significant disruption of cluster management operations and potential compromise of entire high-availability environments. An attacker exploiting this vulnerability could modify cluster resources, alter service configurations, disable critical services, or even perform destructive operations such as removing nodes from the cluster or changing resource priorities. The consequences are particularly severe in enterprise environments where pcs is used for managing critical infrastructure components, as unauthorized modifications could lead to service outages, data inconsistencies, or complete system failures. The vulnerability also enables privilege escalation scenarios where low-privilege users might be able to perform administrative actions, undermining the security model of the cluster management system. According to ATT&CK framework category T1548.001 - Steal or Forge Authentication Certificates, this vulnerability allows adversaries to manipulate authentication mechanisms to gain unauthorized access to privileged operations within the system.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate patching of the pcs software to version 0.9.149 or later, which includes proper CSRF token implementation and validation mechanisms. Organizations should also implement additional defensive measures such as network segmentation to isolate cluster management interfaces, implement proper web application firewalls to monitor and filter suspicious requests, and establish strict access controls for administrative interfaces. Security administrators should conduct regular audits of cluster configurations to detect any unauthorized modifications that might result from exploitation attempts. The fix typically involves implementing synchronized token validation where each request must contain a unique, unpredictable token that correlates with the user session, making it impossible for attackers to forge legitimate requests without access to the valid session tokens. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing multi-factor authentication for administrative access and regular security training for system administrators to recognize potential CSRF attack vectors. The vulnerability also underscores the importance of following secure coding practices and implementing proper input validation and request origin verification in web applications, particularly those handling privileged operations and administrative functions.