CVE-2017-18042 in Bamboo
Summary
by MITRE
The update user administration resource in Atlassian Bamboo before version 6.3.1 allows remote attackers to modify user data including passwords via a Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/01/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-18042 represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw within Atlassian Bamboo's user administration functionality. This vulnerability exists in versions prior to 6.3.1 and allows remote attackers to manipulate user accounts without proper authentication. The flaw specifically affects the update user administration resource, which is designed to handle user data modifications including password changes. Attackers can exploit this weakness by crafting malicious requests that appear to originate from legitimate users, thereby bypassing the intended security controls that should prevent unauthorized modifications to user accounts.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the absence of proper anti-CSRF tokens or validation mechanisms within the user administration endpoints. When a user interacts with the Bamboo interface to update their account information, the system should verify that the request originates from the authenticated user and not from an external malicious source. Without adequate protection measures such as synchronizer tokens or origin validation, an attacker can construct a malicious web page or email link that, when visited by an authenticated user, automatically submits a request to modify user data. This type of attack falls under the category of CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery vulnerabilities where the application fails to validate the source of requests.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant for organizations using Atlassian Bamboo for continuous integration and deployment processes. If exploited, attackers can gain unauthorized access to user accounts, potentially leading to privilege escalation, data theft, or complete compromise of the CI/CD environment. The ability to modify passwords particularly undermines the authentication mechanisms that protect sensitive build processes and source code repositories. Organizations may experience unauthorized code deployments, access to confidential project information, or disruption of development workflows. This vulnerability directly affects the principle of least privilege and can enable attackers to maintain persistent access within the development environment, as demonstrated by ATT&CK technique T1078.004 for valid accounts and T1566 for initial access through malicious links.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability include immediate upgrading to Atlassian Bamboo version 6.3.1 or later, which contains the necessary patches to address the CSRF implementation gaps. Organizations should also implement additional security controls such as network segmentation to limit access to the Bamboo server, regular security audits of administrative interfaces, and monitoring for unusual user account modifications. The patch addresses the core issue by implementing proper CSRF token validation mechanisms that ensure all user administration requests originate from legitimate sources within the application. Security teams should also conduct comprehensive testing to verify that all administrative endpoints properly validate request origins and implement proper session management controls. Organizations utilizing Bamboo should consider implementing additional layers of protection including multi-factor authentication for administrative accounts and regular security training for developers who have access to the CI/CD environment to reduce the risk of successful exploitation through social engineering attacks that leverage this vulnerability.