CVE-2017-14350 in Application Performance Management
Summary
by MITRE
A potential security vulnerability has been identified in HPE Application Performance Management (BSM) Platform versions 9.26, 9.30, 9.40. The vulnerability could be remotely exploited to allow code execution.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/14/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-14350 represents a critical remote code execution flaw within HPE Application Performance Management BSM Platform versions 9.26, 9.30, and 9.40. This security weakness stems from improper input validation mechanisms within the platform's web interface, creating an exploitable condition that adversaries can leverage from remote locations without requiring authentication credentials. The affected system components process user-supplied data through web forms and API endpoints, where insufficient sanitization allows malicious payloads to be executed within the context of the application server.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves a classic command injection attack vector where user-controllable input parameters are directly incorporated into system commands without proper validation or encoding. This flaw manifests when administrators or users interact with the platform's web interface, particularly through features that process external data inputs. The vulnerability exists due to inadequate sanitization of input parameters within the application's request handling logic, allowing attackers to inject malicious commands that get executed by the underlying operating system. This type of vulnerability maps directly to CWE-77 and CWE-89, which categorize command injection and SQL injection flaws respectively, though the specific implementation here focuses on command execution rather than database manipulation.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability poses significant risks to organizations relying on HPE BSM Platform for monitoring and managing their application performance. Remote attackers can leverage this flaw to execute arbitrary code on the affected servers, potentially gaining full administrative control over the platform and its underlying infrastructure. The impact extends beyond immediate system compromise as attackers could use the platform as a pivot point to access other network resources, escalate privileges, and conduct persistent surveillance. The vulnerability affects the platform's core functionality and can lead to complete system compromise, data exfiltration, and disruption of critical business operations that depend on application performance monitoring.
Organizations must implement immediate mitigation strategies to address this vulnerability, beginning with applying the official security patches released by HPE for the affected versions. Network segmentation and firewall rules should be implemented to restrict access to the affected platform, particularly limiting direct internet exposure of web interfaces. Additional protective measures include implementing web application firewalls, conducting thorough network monitoring for suspicious activities, and performing comprehensive vulnerability assessments of the entire application stack. Security teams should also consider implementing intrusion detection systems specifically configured to detect command injection attempts and monitor for unusual system command executions. The remediation process should include thorough testing of patches in non-production environments before deployment, along with comprehensive backup procedures to ensure business continuity during the update process. This vulnerability highlights the importance of regular security maintenance and the critical need for timely patch management across all enterprise monitoring and management platforms.