CVE-2017-8002 in Data Protection Advisor
Summary
by MITRE
EMC Data Protection Advisor prior to 6.4 contains multiple blind SQL injection vulnerabilities. A remote authenticated attacker may potentially exploit these vulnerabilities to gain information about the application by causing execution of arbitrary SQL commands.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/31/2020
The CVE-2017-8002 vulnerability affects EMC Data Protection Advisor versions prior to 6.4, representing a critical security flaw that exposes the system to unauthorized information disclosure through blind SQL injection attacks. This vulnerability resides within the application's handling of user input that is subsequently processed through SQL queries without proper sanitization or validation mechanisms. The flaw allows authenticated remote attackers to manipulate database queries through carefully crafted input parameters, potentially enabling them to extract sensitive data from the underlying database system.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and improper parameter handling within the application's database interaction layers. When legitimate users submit data through various application interfaces, the system fails to adequately sanitize or escape special characters that could alter the intended SQL query structure. This blind SQL injection vulnerability operates without direct error messages, making detection more challenging for security monitoring systems while still allowing attackers to infer database structure and content through time-based or boolean-based exploitation techniques. The vulnerability is categorized under CWE-89, which specifically addresses SQL injection flaws in software applications.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple information disclosure, as successful exploitation could enable attackers to access sensitive backup configurations, user credentials, system metadata, and potentially escalate privileges within the data protection environment. Attackers leveraging this vulnerability could gain comprehensive knowledge of the backup infrastructure, including server configurations, backup schedules, and potentially access to backup data itself. The authenticated nature of the attack means that an attacker would need valid credentials to exploit this vulnerability, but once compromised, the impact could be severe for organizations relying on EMC Data Protection Advisor for critical data protection operations.
Organizations should immediately implement the vendor-provided patches and updates for EMC Data Protection Advisor version 6.4 or later, which address the SQL injection vulnerabilities through proper input validation and parameterized query implementations. Network segmentation and access controls should be strengthened to limit the attack surface, while comprehensive monitoring should be deployed to detect anomalous database query patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1071.005, which covers application layer protocol manipulation, and T1005, which addresses data from local system collection, as attackers could leverage this vulnerability to extract sensitive data from the protected systems. Regular security assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities in other enterprise applications and ensure proper input sanitization practices are maintained across all database interaction points.