CVE-2016-1990 in ArcSight ESM
Summary
by MITRE
HPE ArcSight ESM 5.x before 5.6, 6.0, 6.5.x before 6.5C SP1 Patch 2, and 6.8c, and ArcSight ESM Express, allows local users to gain privileges for command execution via unspecified vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/10/2022
HPE ArcSight Enterprise Security Manager versions 5.x before 5.6, 6.0, 6.5.x before 6.5C SP1 Patch 2, and 6.8c, along with ArcSight ESM Express, contain a local privilege escalation vulnerability that enables authenticated attackers with low-privilege accounts to execute arbitrary commands with elevated privileges. This vulnerability represents a critical security flaw in the access control mechanisms of the ArcSight ESM platform, which is widely used for security information and event management across enterprise environments. The unspecified vectors suggest that the flaw may involve multiple attack pathways within the system's privilege handling mechanisms, potentially including improper privilege checks, insecure command execution, or flawed authentication processes that allow privilege escalation from standard user accounts to administrative levels.
The technical nature of this vulnerability falls under the category of privilege escalation, specifically local privilege escalation as described by CWE-269 and CWE-78. This weakness allows attackers to execute commands with higher privileges than initially granted, potentially enabling complete system compromise. The vulnerability exists within the ArcSight ESM's internal command processing or privilege validation mechanisms, where the system fails to properly verify the privileges of users attempting to execute administrative commands. Attackers could exploit this by leveraging legitimate system access to escalate their privileges through undocumented or improperly validated command execution paths, potentially bypassing the standard security controls that should prevent such privilege elevation.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe for organizations relying on ArcSight ESM for security operations, as it provides a direct pathway to system compromise. An attacker with local access could potentially gain administrative control over the entire security event management platform, enabling them to manipulate security events, modify logs, disable security controls, or extract sensitive data from the system. This could lead to complete loss of security monitoring capabilities, data breaches, and unauthorized access to critical infrastructure. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it affects multiple major versions of the ArcSight ESM platform, meaning organizations across different deployment scenarios and upgrade cycles could be at risk. The local nature of the attack means that even if the system is properly protected from external network attacks, internal threats could still exploit this weakness to gain full administrative control.
Organizations should immediately apply the vendor-provided patches for their specific ArcSight ESM versions to address this vulnerability, as outlined in the security advisory from HPE. System administrators should also implement additional security controls such as monitoring for unauthorized privilege escalation attempts and reviewing access logs for suspicious activities. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this vulnerability under privilege escalation techniques, specifically local privilege escalation methods that attackers can use to gain higher system privileges. Security teams should conduct immediate vulnerability assessments across all ArcSight ESM installations to identify systems running affected versions and ensure proper patch management procedures are in place to prevent similar issues in the future. Additionally, implementing principle of least privilege access controls and regular security audits can help reduce the attack surface and limit potential damage from such vulnerabilities.