CVE-2017-8446 in X-Pack
Summary
by MITRE
The Reporting feature in X-Pack in versions prior to 5.5.2 and standalone Reporting plugin versions versions prior to 2.4.6 had an impersonation vulnerability. A user with the reporting_user role could execute a report with the permissions of another reporting user, possibly gaining access to sensitive data.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/09/2019
The vulnerability described in CVE-2017-8446 represents a critical authorization flaw within the X-Pack reporting functionality of Elasticsearch systems. This issue affected versions prior to 5.5.2 for the integrated X-Pack and standalone reporting plugin versions before 2.4.6, creating a significant security risk for organizations relying on Elasticsearch for data management and analytics. The vulnerability specifically targeted the reporting_user role, which is designed to allow users to generate and manage reports within the Elasticsearch ecosystem.
The technical flaw stems from insufficient permission validation during report execution processes. When a user with the reporting_user role initiated a report, the system failed to properly verify whether the requesting user had legitimate authorization to execute that report with the permissions of another user. This impersonation capability allowed malicious or privileged users to bypass normal access controls and potentially access sensitive data that should have been restricted to specific authorized individuals. The vulnerability essentially created a path for privilege escalation through the reporting mechanism, where one user could effectively impersonate another user's permissions during report generation.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability posed severe risks to data integrity and confidentiality within Elasticsearch environments. Organizations using the affected versions could experience unauthorized data access, potential data leakage, and compromised audit trails. The vulnerability was particularly concerning because it operated silently within the reporting framework, making detection difficult and potentially allowing prolonged unauthorized access to sensitive information. Security administrators could face challenges in identifying compromised systems, as the impersonation occurred during legitimate report generation activities.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-285, which addresses improper authorization issues in software systems, and represents a clear violation of the principle of least privilege in access control mechanisms. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to techniques involving privilege escalation and credential access, specifically targeting the execution of malicious activities through legitimate system processes. Organizations implementing the affected Elasticsearch versions were at risk of experiencing data breaches that could compromise sensitive information, including user credentials, system configurations, and business-critical data stored within the Elasticsearch environment.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2017-8446 required immediate implementation of the available security patches for both the integrated X-Pack and standalone reporting plugin versions. Organizations should have upgraded to the patched versions 5.5.2 and 2.4.6 respectively, which included enhanced permission validation mechanisms. Additionally, security teams needed to conduct thorough access control reviews, implement monitoring for unusual report generation activities, and establish more robust audit logging to detect potential exploitation attempts. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning of Elasticsearch installations became essential practices to prevent similar issues from occurring in other components of the system.