CVE-2017-11482 in Kibana
Summary
by MITRE
The Kibana fix for CVE-2017-8451 was found to be incomplete. With X-Pack installed, Kibana versions before 6.0.1 and 5.6.5 have an open redirect vulnerability on the login page that would enable an attacker to craft a link that redirects to an arbitrary website.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/12/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-11482 represents a critical security flaw in the Kibana logging and analytics platform that emerged from an incomplete security patch addressing a previous vulnerability. This issue specifically affects Kibana installations that include the X-Pack security features, which provide authentication and authorization capabilities for the platform. The vulnerability stems from an insufficient implementation of the fix for CVE-2017-8451, leaving the system susceptible to open redirect attacks that could be exploited by malicious actors to deceive users and potentially compromise the security of the entire logging infrastructure.
The technical flaw resides in the login page implementation where Kibana fails to properly validate redirect URLs when processing authentication requests. Attackers can craft malicious links that exploit this weakness by manipulating the redirect parameter to point to arbitrary external domains, bypassing the intended security controls. This vulnerability operates at the application layer and specifically targets the authentication flow mechanism, allowing unauthorized redirection that could lead to phishing attacks or other social engineering exploits. The flaw exists because the system does not adequately sanitize or validate the redirect URLs passed through the authentication process, creating an entry point for attackers to manipulate user navigation.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant for organizations relying on Kibana for their monitoring and security operations. An attacker exploiting this vulnerability could redirect authenticated users to malicious websites, potentially capturing credentials or deploying malware through phishing campaigns. This threat is particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where Kibana serves as a central dashboard for security monitoring, as compromised access could provide attackers with visibility into the organization's security posture and potentially enable further lateral movement within the network. The vulnerability affects both major release lines of Kibana, with versions before 6.0.1 and 5.6.5 being particularly vulnerable, indicating the widespread nature of the issue across multiple supported versions.
Organizations should immediately implement the official patches released by Elastic for both Kibana 5.6.5 and 6.0.1 to address this vulnerability. The recommended mitigation involves upgrading to the patched versions where the redirect validation has been properly implemented. Additionally, network administrators should monitor for suspicious redirect patterns in their web traffic logs and consider implementing additional security controls such as strict content security policies and web application firewalls to detect and prevent exploitation attempts. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-601 open redirect vulnerability classification and represents a technique commonly used in the ATT&CK framework under the 'Initial Access' phase, specifically targeting credential theft through deceptive redirection attacks.