CVE-2017-11380 in Deep Discovery Director
Summary
by MITRE
Backup archives were found to be encrypted with a static password across different installations, which suggest the same password may be used in all virtual appliance instances of Trend Micro Deep Discovery Director 1.1.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/02/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-11380 represents a critical cryptographic weakness in Trend Micro Deep Discovery Director version 1.1 where backup archives are encrypted using a static password across multiple installations. This flaw directly violates fundamental security principles governing encryption key management and demonstrates poor implementation of cryptographic practices within the virtual appliance environment. The static nature of the encryption password across different instances creates a single point of failure that undermines the confidentiality guarantees typically expected from encrypted data protection mechanisms.
This vulnerability stems from the improper implementation of encryption key management practices where the system fails to generate unique cryptographic keys for each installation or backup operation. The use of a hardcoded password for encryption purposes aligns with CWE-327, which addresses the use of weak cryptographic algorithms and improper key management. The flaw essentially transforms what should be a secure backup mechanism into a predictable encryption scheme that can be easily compromised by threat actors who gain access to any single installation's backup files. This represents a significant deviation from industry best practices for encryption key management as outlined in NIST SP 800-57 and other cryptographic standards.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data confidentiality concerns to encompass broader security implications for organizations utilizing Trend Micro Deep Discovery Director. Attackers who compromise a single virtual appliance instance can potentially access backup data from all other instances within the same deployment, creating a cascading security failure that affects the entire organization's security posture. This vulnerability directly maps to ATT&CK technique T1210, which involves exploitation of remote services to access sensitive data, and T1005, which covers data from local systems. The static password nature of the encryption means that even if organizations implement proper access controls and network segmentation, the backup data remains vulnerable to unauthorized access through this cryptographic weakness.
The implications of this vulnerability become particularly severe in environments where multiple virtual appliance instances are deployed across different network segments or geographical locations, as the same password compromise can provide access to backup data from all instances. This flaw essentially eliminates the security benefit of encryption for backup data, as the static password creates a universal key that can be used to decrypt any backup archive from any instance. Organizations may be unaware of this vulnerability until a security incident occurs, making it particularly dangerous as it operates silently in the background. The vulnerability also impacts compliance requirements for data protection, as it fails to meet minimum standards for encryption key management and data confidentiality. Remediation efforts require either patching the software to implement dynamic encryption key generation or manually updating the encryption passwords across all affected instances, which may not be feasible in large-scale deployments. The vulnerability highlights the critical importance of proper cryptographic key management and the necessity of avoiding hardcoded credentials in security software implementations.