CVE-2017-8340 in OX App Suite
Summary
by MITRE
Open-Xchange GmbH OX App Suite 7.8.3 and earlier is affected by: Incorrect Access Control.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/14/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-8340 affects Open-Xchange GmbH OX App Suite versions 7.8.3 and earlier, representing a critical access control flaw that undermines the security posture of email and collaboration platforms. This issue stems from inadequate authorization mechanisms within the application's architecture, allowing unauthorized users to bypass normal access restrictions and gain privileges they should not possess. The vulnerability specifically impacts the application's ability to properly validate user permissions and enforce security boundaries between different user roles and functionalities.
The technical implementation of this access control flaw manifests through improper validation of user sessions and authentication states within the OX App Suite framework. Attackers can exploit this weakness to escalate their privileges and access restricted resources, potentially including other users' email accounts, calendar data, contacts, and administrative functions. The vulnerability operates at the application layer where session management and permission checking mechanisms fail to properly verify user credentials against the intended access policies. This flaw represents a classic example of inadequate access control implementation that can be categorized under CWE-284, which specifically addresses improper access control vulnerabilities. The weakness allows for privilege escalation attacks where unauthenticated or low-privilege users can obtain elevated permissions through manipulation of application state or direct API calls.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple unauthorized data access, as it can enable comprehensive system compromise and data exfiltration. Organizations utilizing OX App Suite in enterprise environments face significant risk of insider threats, external exploitation, and regulatory compliance violations when this vulnerability remains unpatched. The flaw can be exploited through various attack vectors including web interface manipulation, API endpoint abuse, or session hijacking techniques that leverage the application's insufficient validation mechanisms. Security analysts should note that this vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1078 which covers valid accounts usage and privilege escalation through compromised credentials, making it particularly dangerous in environments where multiple user roles and administrative functions exist.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2017-8340 primarily focus on immediate patch deployment from Open-Xchange GmbH, as the vendor has released updates addressing the access control implementation issues. Organizations should also implement additional security controls including network segmentation, monitoring for unusual access patterns, and enhanced session management policies. Security teams must conduct comprehensive vulnerability assessments to identify any potential exploitation attempts and ensure that all user sessions are properly validated. The remediation process should include thorough testing of access control mechanisms to verify that proper authorization checks are enforced for all application functions. Additionally, organizations should review their overall security architecture to prevent similar issues in other applications and implement proper input validation and access control testing as part of their security development lifecycle processes.