CVE-2017-11194 in Pulse Connect Secure
Summary
by MITRE
Pulse Connect Secure 8.3R1 has Reflected XSS in adminservercacertdetails.cgi. In the admin panel, the certid parameter of adminservercacertdetails.cgi is reflected in the application's response and is not properly sanitized, allowing an attacker to inject tags. An attacker could come up with clever payloads to make the system run commands such as ping, ping6, traceroute, nslookup, arp, etc.
Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/25/2019
The vulnerability CVE-2017-11194 represents a reflected cross-site scripting flaw in Pulse Connect Secure version 8.3R1 within the adminservercacertdetails.cgi component. This issue resides in the administrative interface of the Pulse Connect Secure VPN appliance, which is widely deployed for remote access and network security management. The vulnerability specifically affects the certificate management functionality where the certid parameter is improperly handled, creating an avenue for malicious code injection.
The technical implementation of this flaw occurs when the application processes the certid parameter from user input without adequate sanitization or encoding. When the parameter is reflected back in the HTTP response, any HTML or JavaScript code included in the parameter executes within the context of the victim's browser session. This reflected nature means that the attacker must craft a malicious URL containing the exploit payload and trick a victim into clicking it, typically through social engineering or phishing campaigns. The vulnerability falls under CWE-79 which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws where untrusted data is incorporated into web pages without proper validation or encoding.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as demonstrated by the attacker capabilities mentioned in the description. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability could potentially execute system commands such as ping, ping6, traceroute, nslookup, and arp utilities through the compromised administrative interface. This capability represents a significant escalation from typical XSS attacks, as it allows for network reconnaissance and potentially more dangerous command execution. The administrative context of the vulnerability means that successful exploitation could provide attackers with elevated privileges and access to sensitive certificate information, potentially compromising the entire secure network infrastructure.
Security professionals should note that this vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566 which covers spearphishing with a link, and T1059 which involves command and scripting interpreter usage. The attack vector typically involves crafting malicious URLs that appear legitimate to administrators, leveraging the trust relationship between the user and the administrative interface. Organizations using Pulse Connect Secure should prioritize patching this vulnerability immediately, as it provides a direct path to administrative access and network reconnaissance capabilities. The remediation involves proper input validation and output encoding of all user-supplied parameters, specifically ensuring that the certid parameter in adminservercacertdetails.cgi is sanitized before being reflected in web responses. Additionally, implementing web application firewalls and monitoring for suspicious parameter patterns can help detect and prevent exploitation attempts.