CVE-2017-11193 in Pulse Connect Secure
Summary
by MITRE
Pulse Connect Secure 8.3R1 has CSRF in diag.cgi. In the panel, the diag.cgi file is responsible for running commands such as ping, ping6, traceroute, traceroute6, nslookup, arp, and Portprobe. These functions do not have any protections against CSRF. That can allow an attacker to run these commands against any IP if they can get an admin to visit their malicious CSRF page.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/01/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-11193 resides within Pulse Connect Secure version 8.3R1, specifically targeting the diag.cgi component that handles diagnostic network commands. This represents a critical cross-site request forgery weakness that fundamentally undermines the security posture of the affected system. The diag.cgi interface provides administrative functionality for executing network diagnostic operations including ping, ping6, traceroute, traceroute6, nslookup, arp, and portprobe commands, which are essential for network troubleshooting and monitoring. These administrative functions are exposed through a web interface without proper CSRF protection mechanisms, creating a significant attack vector for malicious actors targeting privileged system access.
The technical flaw manifests as the complete absence of anti-CSRF tokens or validation mechanisms within the diag.cgi implementation. When an administrator accesses a malicious web page, the attacker can craft HTTP requests that automatically execute these diagnostic commands on behalf of the authenticated user without their knowledge or consent. This vulnerability operates at the application layer and directly exploits the trust relationship between the web browser and the Pulse Connect Secure appliance. The attack requires minimal sophistication since the attacker only needs to convince an administrative user to visit a malicious page, leveraging the existing administrative privileges to execute arbitrary network commands against any target IP address or domain.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends far beyond simple command execution, as it provides attackers with substantial network reconnaissance capabilities and potential for further exploitation. An attacker could use the ping and traceroute functions to map network topology, identify active hosts, and determine network structure. The nslookup and arp commands enable DNS enumeration and ARP table manipulation, potentially revealing internal network information and facilitating further attacks. The portprobe functionality allows for port scanning operations that could expose additional vulnerable services. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses cross-site request forgery weaknesses in web applications, and represents a direct violation of the principle of least privilege by enabling unauthorized command execution with administrative privileges.
The attack vector for this vulnerability follows the typical CSRF exploitation pattern where the attacker crafts a malicious webpage containing embedded requests to the diag.cgi endpoint. When an administrator's browser loads this page, the requests are automatically executed due to the browser's automatic handling of cookies and session information. This attack can be particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where administrators frequently visit various web pages and may inadvertently trigger the malicious requests. The vulnerability demonstrates a critical design flaw in the web application security model of Pulse Connect Secure, as it fails to implement proper session validation or request origin verification. Mitigation strategies should include immediate implementation of CSRF tokens for all administrative functions, proper request origin validation, and comprehensive security hardening of the appliance. Organizations should also consider network segmentation and monitoring to detect unauthorized command execution attempts, as this vulnerability can serve as a stepping stone for more sophisticated attacks within the network infrastructure.