CVE-2017-8003 in Data Protection Advisor
Summary
by MITRE
EMC Data Protection Advisor prior to 6.4 contains a path traversal vulnerability. A remote authenticated high privileged user may potentially exploit this vulnerability to access unauthorized information from the underlying OS server by supplying specially crafted strings in input parameters of the application.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/31/2020
The CVE-2017-8003 vulnerability represents a critical path traversal flaw in EMC Data Protection Advisor versions prior to 6.4, exposing organizations to significant security risks through unauthorized access to operating system resources. This vulnerability specifically affects the application's handling of input parameters, where maliciously crafted strings can be exploited by authenticated users with high privileges to navigate beyond intended file system boundaries. The flaw stems from inadequate validation of user-supplied input within the application's processing logic, creating an avenue for attackers to access sensitive system files and directories that should remain restricted to authorized personnel.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability demonstrates a classic path traversal attack vector where the application fails to properly sanitize or validate file paths before processing user input. When authenticated users submit specially crafted strings through application input parameters, the system processes these inputs without adequate boundary checks, allowing attackers to manipulate file system access patterns. This weakness directly aligns with CWE-22, which categorizes path traversal vulnerabilities as improper input validation leading to unauthorized access to system resources. The vulnerability's exploitation requires only a high-privileged authenticated user account, making it particularly dangerous as it leverages existing legitimate access to escalate privileges and gain unauthorized system access.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability presents a severe threat to data protection and system integrity within enterprise environments that rely on EMC Data Protection Advisor for backup and recovery operations. Attackers exploiting this vulnerability could potentially access critical system files, configuration data, and sensitive backup information stored on the underlying operating system server. The implications extend beyond simple information disclosure, as unauthorized access to system files could enable attackers to modify backup configurations, access unencrypted data, or even escalate their privileges to gain full system control. This represents a significant compromise of the principle of least privilege, where legitimate administrative access becomes a vector for broader system infiltration.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including updating to EMC Data Protection Advisor version 6.4 or later, which contains the necessary patches to address the path traversal vulnerability. Additionally, network segmentation and access controls should be enforced to limit the exposure of administrative interfaces to trusted networks only. Security monitoring should be enhanced to detect unusual file access patterns or parameter manipulation attempts that might indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of input validation and proper parameter sanitization in application development, aligning with ATT&CK technique T1059 for command and scripting interpreter usage and T1078 for valid accounts. Organizations should conduct comprehensive security assessments of their backup and recovery systems to identify similar vulnerabilities and implement defense-in-depth strategies that include regular security updates, privileged access management, and continuous monitoring of system access patterns to prevent unauthorized information disclosure and system compromise.