CVE-2017-5264 in Nexpose
Summary
by MITRE
Versions of Nexpose prior to 6.4.66 fail to adequately validate the source of HTTP requests intended for the Automated Actions administrative web application, and are susceptible to a cross-site request forgery (CSRF) attack.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/03/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-5264 affects Rapid7 Nexpose versions prior to 6.4.66, specifically targeting the Automated Actions administrative web application component. This flaw represents a critical security weakness that undermines the integrity of the application's authentication mechanisms and exposes sensitive administrative functions to unauthorized manipulation. The vulnerability resides within the web application's request validation logic, where the system fails to properly verify the origin of incoming HTTP requests destined for administrative endpoints. This omission creates a pathway for malicious actors to exploit the system through cross-site request forgery techniques, potentially allowing them to execute unauthorized administrative actions on behalf of legitimate users.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate source validation mechanisms within the Nexpose application's web framework. When administrative actions are initiated through the Automated Actions interface, the system should verify that requests originate from legitimate sources within the same domain and are properly authenticated. However, the flawed validation process allows external malicious actors to craft specially crafted HTTP requests that appear to originate from trusted administrative interfaces. This weakness specifically affects the CSRF protection mechanisms that should prevent unauthorized requests from being processed by the administrative web application, creating a dangerous exposure where authenticated sessions can be hijacked or manipulated without proper authorization checks.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple privilege escalation, potentially enabling attackers to compromise entire network security infrastructures through the automated actions functionality. An attacker who successfully exploits this CSRF vulnerability could perform critical administrative operations such as modifying scan configurations, creating new user accounts, disabling security features, or executing arbitrary commands within the Nexpose environment. The implications are particularly severe because the Automated Actions component typically operates with elevated privileges and can execute complex security operations that affect the broader network monitoring capabilities. This vulnerability essentially allows unauthorized users to gain administrative control over the Nexpose scanning infrastructure, potentially leading to complete system compromise and unauthorized access to sensitive network information.
Security professionals should note that this vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery weaknesses in web applications. The flaw demonstrates a classic lack of anti-CSRF token implementation or proper origin validation that allows malicious actors to leverage legitimate user sessions for unauthorized actions. From an attack framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to several ATT&CK techniques including privilege escalation through web application exploitation and persistence mechanisms through administrative access. Organizations utilizing Nexpose should prioritize immediate patching to version 6.4.66 or later, as this update includes proper CSRF protection mechanisms that validate request sources and implement anti-CSRF tokens. Additional mitigations should include network segmentation of administrative interfaces, implementation of web application firewalls, and monitoring for suspicious administrative activities that could indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability underscores the critical importance of maintaining proper authentication and authorization controls in administrative web applications, particularly those that handle sensitive security operations within enterprise environments.