CVE-2017-3188 in dotCMS Administration Panel
Summary
by MITRE
The dotCMS administration panel, versions 3.7.1 and earlier, "Push Publishing" feature in Enterprise Pro is vulnerable to path traversal. When "Bundle" tar.gz archives uploaded to the Push Publishing feature are decompressed, the filenames of its contents are not properly checked, allowing for writing files to arbitrary directories on the file system. These archives may be uploaded directly via the administrator panel, or using the CSRF vulnerability (CVE-2017-3187). An unauthenticated remote attacker may perform actions with the dotCMS administrator panel with the same permissions of a victim user or execute arbitrary system commands with the permissions of the user running the dotCMS application.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/27/2024
The dotCMS administration panel vulnerability described in CVE-2017-3188 represents a critical path traversal flaw within the Push Publishing feature of Enterprise Pro versions 3.7.1 and earlier. This vulnerability stems from insufficient validation of filenames during the decompression of tar.gz archive bundles, creating a significant security weakness that allows attackers to manipulate file system operations beyond the intended scope. The flaw specifically affects the bundle handling mechanism where uploaded archives are automatically decompressed without proper sanitization of the filenames contained within them, enabling attackers to craft malicious archive contents that can write files to arbitrary directories on the target system.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability leverages the lack of proper input validation during archive extraction processes, where the system fails to sanitize or verify the absolute or relative paths specified in the archive contents. This type of flaw maps directly to CWE-22 Path Traversal vulnerabilities, which are classified under the broader category of insecure direct object references and represent one of the most common and dangerous categories of web application vulnerabilities. The vulnerability operates at the file system level, allowing attackers to bypass normal access controls and potentially escalate privileges to execute arbitrary commands with the permissions of the dotCMS application process, which typically runs with elevated system privileges.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple file system manipulation, as it creates a potential attack vector for remote code execution and privilege escalation. An attacker with access to the administration panel can leverage this flaw to upload malicious bundles that overwrite critical system files, inject backdoors, or establish persistent access to the server. The vulnerability's exploitation is further amplified by the presence of a related CSRF vulnerability (CVE-2017-3187) which allows unauthenticated attackers to perform actions on behalf of authenticated users, significantly expanding the attack surface. This combination creates a dangerous scenario where remote attackers can potentially gain administrator-level access to the dotCMS application and subsequently compromise the entire underlying system.
Security mitigations for CVE-2017-3188 should focus on implementing robust input validation and sanitization of all file paths during archive decompression operations, as recommended by the OWASP Top Ten and MITRE ATT&CK framework's defense-in-depth strategies. Organizations should immediately upgrade to dotCMS versions that address this vulnerability, implement proper access controls and authentication mechanisms, and apply network-level restrictions to limit exposure of the administration panel. The remediation process should include validating all archive contents against a whitelist of allowed paths, implementing proper directory traversal checks, and ensuring that decompression operations occur in restricted sandboxed environments. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing intrusion detection systems to monitor for suspicious file upload activities and establish comprehensive monitoring of file system changes that could indicate exploitation attempts.