CVE-2017-4965 in RabbitMQ
Summary
by MITRE
An issue was discovered in these Pivotal RabbitMQ versions: all 3.4.x versions, all 3.5.x versions, and 3.6.x versions prior to 3.6.9; and these RabbitMQ for PCF versions: all 1.5.x versions, 1.6.x versions prior to 1.6.18, and 1.7.x versions prior to 1.7.15. Several forms in the RabbitMQ management UI are vulnerable to XSS attacks.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/02/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-4965 represents a cross-site scripting weakness in Pivotal RabbitMQ management interfaces across multiple version ranges including 3.4.x, 3.5.x, and 3.6.x prior to 3.6.9, alongside specific RabbitMQ for PCF versions. This security flaw exists within the web-based management UI components that administrators use to monitor and control RabbitMQ message broker operations, making it particularly concerning for organizations relying on these interfaces for operational management.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and output encoding within the management console forms that handle user-provided data. When users interact with various administrative forms through the web interface, the application fails to properly sanitize or escape user-supplied parameters before rendering them back to the browser. This allows malicious actors to inject arbitrary javascript code through form fields that accept user input, potentially leading to unauthorized actions being executed in the context of authenticated sessions.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data theft or defacement, as it provides attackers with the capability to escalate privileges within the management interface. An attacker who successfully exploits this XSS vulnerability could potentially execute commands with the privileges of the authenticated user, which might include administrative rights to modify broker configurations, create new users, or even delete queues and exchanges. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this as a web application vulnerability exploitation technique that can lead to privilege escalation and persistent access within the messaging infrastructure.
Organizations utilizing affected RabbitMQ versions should immediately implement mitigations including upgrading to patched versions where available, implementing web application firewalls to detect and block suspicious script payloads, and applying proper input validation at the application layer. The CWE database classifies this issue under CWE-79 which specifically addresses cross-site scripting vulnerabilities, emphasizing the need for proper output encoding and input sanitization. Additionally, network segmentation and least privilege access controls should be enforced to limit the potential damage from successful exploitation, while regular security assessments should verify that all management interfaces are properly secured against similar vulnerabilities.
The broader implications of this vulnerability highlight the critical importance of securing administrative interfaces in enterprise messaging systems, where unauthorized access could compromise entire distributed application architectures that depend on reliable message queuing services. Organizations should establish comprehensive patch management procedures and security monitoring to detect potential exploitation attempts against their messaging infrastructure components.