CVE-2016-7040 in CloudForms Management Engine
Summary
by MITRE
Red Hat CloudForms Management Engine 4.1 does not properly handle regular expressions passed to the expression engine via the JSON API and the web-based UI, which allows remote authenticated users to execute arbitrary shell commands by leveraging the ability to view and filter collections.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/22/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-7040 affects Red Hat CloudForms Management Engine version 4.1, representing a critical security flaw in the platform's handling of user input within its expression engine. This issue stems from inadequate validation and sanitization of regular expressions submitted through both the JSON API and web-based user interface components. The flaw exists in the manner in which the system processes user-provided regular expression patterns, creating an avenue for command injection attacks that can be exploited by authenticated users with appropriate privileges.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability resides in the expression engine's failure to properly escape or validate input parameters before processing them within shell contexts. When users submit regular expressions through the affected interfaces, the system does not adequately sanitize these inputs, allowing maliciously crafted expressions to be interpreted as shell commands. This occurs because the system's parsing logic does not distinguish between legitimate regular expression syntax and potentially harmful command sequences that could be executed within the underlying shell environment. The vulnerability specifically impacts the filtering and viewing capabilities of collections within the management engine, where regular expressions are used to define search criteria and data retrieval parameters.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents a severe risk to organizations utilizing Red Hat CloudForms Management Engine 4.1, as it allows authenticated attackers to execute arbitrary shell commands on the affected system. The attack vector requires only authentication to the system, making it particularly dangerous in environments where privilege escalation is possible or where users have access to collection viewing and filtering functionalities. Successful exploitation could result in full system compromise, data exfiltration, privilege escalation to root or administrative accounts, and potential lateral movement within the network infrastructure. The impact extends beyond immediate command execution to include potential disruption of services, data integrity compromise, and establishment of persistent access points.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-77 and CWE-94 categories within the Common Weakness Enumeration framework, specifically addressing improper input validation and code injection weaknesses. It also maps to several MITRE ATT&CK techniques including T1059.001 for command and scripting interpreter, T1068 for exploit for privilege escalation, and T1078 for valid accounts. Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including applying the vendor-provided patches, implementing input validation controls, and restricting access to collection filtering functionalities where possible. Network segmentation and monitoring of API and UI traffic can help detect exploitation attempts, while regular security assessments of the management engine components should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities in related systems. The remediation process should also include thorough testing of patched environments to ensure that legitimate functionality remains intact while addressing the command injection vulnerability.