CVE-2017-5648 in Tomcat
Summary
by MITRE
While investigating bug 60718, it was noticed that some calls to application listeners in Apache Tomcat 9.0.0.M1 to 9.0.0.M17, 8.5.0 to 8.5.11, 8.0.0.RC1 to 8.0.41, and 7.0.0 to 7.0.75 did not use the appropriate facade object. When running an untrusted application under a SecurityManager, it was therefore possible for that untrusted application to retain a reference to the request or response object and thereby access and/or modify information associated with another web application.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/28/2022
The vulnerability described in CVE-2017-5648 represents a critical security flaw in Apache Tomcat versions ranging from 9.0.0.M1 through 9.0.0.M17, 8.5.0 through 8.5.11, 8.0.0.RC1 through 8.0.41, and 7.0.0 through 7.0.75. This issue stems from improper handling of facade objects during application listener invocations, creating a significant bypass opportunity for untrusted applications operating under SecurityManager constraints. The flaw manifests when application listeners fail to utilize the appropriate facade objects, leading to potential information leakage and cross-application data manipulation. The vulnerability directly impacts the security isolation guarantees that Tomcat should provide between different web applications running within the same container, fundamentally undermining the principle of application sandboxing that SecurityManager is designed to enforce.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability occurs at the application listener invocation level where Tomcat's internal request and response object handling becomes inconsistent. When an untrusted application executes within a SecurityManager context, the improper facade usage allows that application to maintain references to request or response objects that should be isolated from other applications. This creates a scenario where malicious or compromised applications can access sensitive data belonging to other applications, potentially enabling information disclosure attacks and cross-site request forgery exploits. The flaw specifically relates to the failure in object lifecycle management and context isolation mechanisms that should normally prevent untrusted code from accessing privileged resources or manipulating objects from different application contexts.
The operational impact of CVE-2017-5648 extends beyond simple data leakage to encompass potential complete application compromise and cross-application data manipulation. Attackers leveraging this vulnerability could potentially access session information, application configuration data, or sensitive request parameters belonging to other web applications running on the same Tomcat instance. This vulnerability is particularly dangerous in multi-tenant environments where multiple applications share the same server instance, as it allows for privilege escalation and lateral movement between applications. The security implications align with CWE-284 Access Control Issues, specifically addressing inadequate access controls that allow unauthorized access to protected resources, and can be mapped to ATT&CK technique T1068 Privilege Escalation through the exploitation of application-level security boundaries.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should immediately implement mitigations including upgrading to patched versions of Apache Tomcat, as the vulnerability was resolved in later releases. System administrators should also consider implementing additional security controls such as application-level monitoring and access logging to detect potential exploitation attempts. The mitigation strategy should include thorough security testing of all applications running on affected Tomcat versions, particularly those that rely on SecurityManager for isolation. Organizations should also review their application deployment practices to ensure that untrusted applications are properly sandboxed and that appropriate security policies are enforced at the container level. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning should be implemented to identify similar issues in other components of the application stack, as this vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of maintaining proper object isolation and facade management in application servers.