CVE-2017-2664 in CloudForms Management Engine
Summary
by MITRE
CloudForms Management Engine (cfme) before 5.7.3 and 5.8.x before 5.8.1 lacks RBAC controls on certain methods in the rails application portion of CloudForms. An attacker with access could use a variety of methods within the rails application portion of CloudForms to escalate privileges.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/25/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-2664 represents a critical access control flaw within Red Hat CloudForms Management Engine versions prior to 5.7.3 and 5.8.1. This issue stems from insufficient Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) implementations within the rails application layer of the CloudForms platform, creating a significant security weakness that allows unauthorized privilege escalation. The vulnerability specifically affects the management engine component that handles various administrative functions through the rails application framework, which serves as the primary interface for system configuration and user management operations.
The technical flaw manifests as a lack of proper authorization checks on critical methods within the rails application portion of CloudForms. This absence of RBAC controls means that authenticated users who should not have administrative privileges can exploit specific application methods to gain elevated access levels. The vulnerability operates at the application layer where user requests are processed, allowing attackers to manipulate the application's internal state through carefully crafted requests that bypass normal access controls. This type of flaw falls under the CWE-284 category of Improper Access Control, specifically addressing insufficient authorization mechanisms within web applications.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe as it enables attackers with minimal initial access to escalate their privileges within the CloudForms environment. Once an attacker gains access to the system, they can leverage the missing RBAC controls to execute administrative functions that should be restricted to authorized personnel only. This privilege escalation capability can lead to complete system compromise, allowing unauthorized users to modify system configurations, access sensitive data, create new administrative accounts, or manipulate the underlying infrastructure managed by CloudForms. The vulnerability essentially undermines the fundamental security model of the platform by allowing unauthorized users to bypass the intended access control boundaries.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2017-2664 primarily involve upgrading to the patched versions of CloudForms Management Engine, specifically versions 5.7.3 and 5.8.1 or later. Organizations should also implement network segmentation to limit access to the CloudForms management engine and enforce strict authentication controls. Security administrators should conduct thorough access reviews to ensure that only authorized personnel have access to the affected components and implement monitoring solutions to detect suspicious privilege escalation attempts. The vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1078 for Valid Accounts and T1484 for Domain Policy Modification, indicating that attackers could leverage this flaw to establish persistent access and modify system policies. Additionally, implementing proper input validation and output encoding practices within the rails application framework would help prevent similar issues in future deployments.