CVE-2017-12167 in EAP
Summary
by MITRE
It was found in EAP 7 before 7.0.9 that properties based files of the management and the application realm configuration that contain user to role mapping are world readable allowing access to users and roles information to all the users logged in to the system.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/25/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-12167 affects Red Hat Enterprise Application Platform version 7.0.8 and earlier, representing a critical misconfiguration issue in the management and application realm configuration handling. This flaw stems from improper file permission settings where properties-based files containing user-to-role mappings are configured with world-readable permissions, thereby exposing sensitive authentication and authorization data to all system users. The vulnerability specifically targets the management and application realms within the EAP 7 platform, which are fundamental components responsible for handling user authentication and access control policies.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves the improper handling of file system permissions in the EAP 7 configuration management system. When user-to-role mapping files are created or modified within the management and application realms, these files are not properly secured with restricted permissions, allowing any user account on the system to read the contents. This misconfiguration creates a privilege escalation vector where unauthorized users can access role mappings, user credentials, and other sensitive information that should remain restricted to authorized administrators. The flaw operates at the operating system level through inadequate file permission controls rather than through application-level vulnerabilities or code execution exploits.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple information disclosure to create significant security risks within enterprise environments. Attackers who gain access to a system with this vulnerability can enumerate all users and their associated roles, potentially identifying high-privilege accounts and mapping out the entire organizational access control structure. This information can be leveraged for further attacks including privilege escalation, lateral movement, and targeted social engineering campaigns. The exposure of user-to-role mappings provides attackers with detailed insights into the application's security architecture, enabling them to craft more sophisticated attack strategies and bypass access controls that would otherwise be effective.
Security professionals should implement immediate mitigation strategies including setting restrictive file permissions on all management and application realm configuration files, ensuring that these sensitive files are only accessible to the application server process and authorized administrators. The recommended approach involves configuring file permissions to 600 or more restrictive settings for user-to-role mapping files, preventing world-read access while maintaining necessary functionality for the application server to operate. Additionally, regular security audits should verify that configuration files maintain appropriate permissions and that no new files are inadvertently created with world-readable attributes. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-732, which describes improper permission settings for security-critical resources, and represents a clear violation of the principle of least privilege as outlined in various cybersecurity frameworks including the NIST Cybersecurity Framework and ISO 27001 standards. Organizations should also consider implementing automated monitoring solutions to detect and alert on unauthorized file access attempts, as this vulnerability can persist across system reboots and may not be immediately apparent during routine security assessments.