CVE-2017-8005 in RSA Identity Governance
Summary
by MITRE
The EMC RSA Identity Governance and Lifecycle, RSA Via Lifecycle and Governance, and RSA IMG products (RSA Identity Governance and Lifecycle versions 7.0.1, 7.0.2, all patch levels; RSA Via Lifecycle and Governance version 7.0, all patch levels; RSA Identity Management and Governance (RSA IMG) versions 6.9.1, all patch levels) are affected by multiple stored cross-site scripting vulnerabilities. Remote authenticated malicious users could potentially inject arbitrary HTML code to the application.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/01/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-8005 affects critical identity governance and lifecycle management products from EMC RSA, specifically targeting RSA Identity Governance and Lifecycle versions 7.0.1 and 7.0.2, RSA Via Lifecycle and Governance version 7.0, and RSA Identity Management and Governance versions 6.9.1 across all patch levels. This security flaw represents a significant concern for organizations relying on these platforms for managing user identities, access controls, and governance processes. The vulnerability manifests as multiple stored cross-site scripting flaws that can be exploited by authenticated attackers who already have legitimate access to the system, making the attack vector particularly dangerous as it bypasses typical perimeter security measures.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and output encoding within the web application interfaces of these RSA products. When authenticated users submit data through various application forms, administrative interfaces, or configuration modules, the system fails to properly sanitize user-supplied content before storing and rendering it within web pages. This stored data becomes persistent and is subsequently executed in the context of other users' browsers when they view the affected pages, creating a classic stored XSS attack scenario. The vulnerability operates at the application layer and requires authentication credentials to exploit, making it more difficult to detect compared to reflected XSS attacks that can be triggered through external links.
The operational impact of CVE-2017-8005 extends beyond simple data corruption or display issues, as it provides attackers with the capability to execute arbitrary JavaScript code within the browser context of authenticated users. This could enable attackers to steal session cookies, perform actions on behalf of legitimate users, access sensitive identity data, modify access controls, or even escalate privileges within the governance environment. Given that these products are designed for identity management and access governance, successful exploitation could lead to unauthorized access to critical systems, data breaches, or complete compromise of the identity infrastructure. The attack requires minimal privileges since users only need valid authentication credentials, making it particularly dangerous in environments where administrative access is granted to multiple personnel.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including applying the vendor-provided security patches released for these affected versions, implementing additional input validation measures, and conducting comprehensive security assessments of user interfaces that accept external data. Network segmentation and monitoring solutions should be deployed to detect anomalous user behavior patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-79, which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws, and represents a technique commonly catalogued in the ATT&CK framework under the T1059.007 sub-technique for scripting, where adversaries leverage web application vulnerabilities to execute malicious code. Security teams should also consider implementing web application firewalls and content security policies to add additional layers of protection against such attacks.