CVE-2016-0886 in Documentum xCP
Summary
by MITRE
EMC Documentum xCP 2.1 before patch 24 and 2.2 before patch 12 allows remote authenticated users to obtain sensitive user-account metadata via a members/xcp_member API call.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/10/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-0886 affects EMC Documentum xCP 2.1 versions prior to patch 24 and xCP 2.2 versions prior to patch 12, representing a significant security flaw in enterprise content management systems. This issue stems from insufficient access controls within the members/xcp_member API endpoint, which is designed to manage user membership and access permissions within the Documentum environment. The vulnerability specifically targets authenticated users who can leverage this API call to extract sensitive metadata about user accounts, potentially exposing critical information that could aid in further exploitation attempts.
The technical implementation of this flaw involves a lack of proper authorization checks within the API endpoint, allowing authenticated users to query user account metadata without appropriate access restrictions. This represents a violation of the principle of least privilege and demonstrates inadequate input validation and access control mechanisms. The API call structure likely accepts parameters that, when manipulated by authenticated users, can bypass normal security boundaries and return information about user accounts that should remain protected. This issue falls under CWE-284, which addresses improper access control, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1078 for valid accounts and T1566 for credential access through API exploitation.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple information disclosure, as the metadata obtained through this API call can include user account details, group memberships, permission levels, and other sensitive attributes that could facilitate more sophisticated attacks. An attacker with access to this information could potentially identify high-value targets within the organization, understand user access patterns, and plan targeted attacks against specific accounts. The vulnerability also represents a potential stepping stone for privilege escalation attacks, where the leaked metadata could be used to identify accounts with elevated privileges or access to sensitive data repositories. Organizations using affected versions of EMC Documentum xCP face increased risk of insider threats and targeted attacks that exploit the leaked user account information to compromise additional system components.
Organizations should immediately implement the vendor-provided patches for both xCP 2.1 patch 24 and xCP 2.2 patch 12 to remediate this vulnerability. In the interim, administrators should consider implementing additional monitoring of API calls to detect unusual access patterns, particularly around the members/xcp_member endpoint. Network segmentation and access control measures should be reviewed to limit unnecessary API access, and regular security assessments should be conducted to identify other potential access control vulnerabilities. The vulnerability highlights the importance of maintaining current security patches and implementing comprehensive access control policies for API endpoints that handle user account information. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing automated vulnerability scanning tools that can detect similar access control flaws in other enterprise applications and systems.