CVE-2018-11044 in Application Service
Summary
by MITRE
Pivotal Apps Manager included in Pivotal Application Service, versions 2.2.x prior to 2.2.1 and 2.1.x prior to 2.1.8 and 2.0.x prior to 2.0.17 and 1.12.x prior to 1.12.26, does not escape all user-provided content when sending invitation emails. A malicious authenticated user can inject content into an invite to another user, exploiting the trust implied by the source of the email.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/10/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-11044 affects Pivotal Apps Manager within the Pivotal Application Service platform, specifically targeting versions prior to their respective security patches. This issue resides in the email invitation functionality where the system fails to properly sanitize user-provided content before including it in automated email communications. The flaw represents a classic cross-site scripting vulnerability that occurs when untrusted data is incorporated into email templates without adequate output encoding or escaping mechanisms. The vulnerability impacts multiple release branches including 2.2.x, 2.1.x, 2.0.x, and 1.12.x versions, indicating a widespread exposure across the product lineage.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and output sanitization within the email generation process. When an authenticated user creates an invitation for another user, the system accepts user-provided content such as names, email addresses, or custom messages without proper HTML escaping or context-appropriate encoding. This allows malicious actors to inject HTML tags, javascript payloads, or other malicious content that gets rendered when the recipient opens the invitation email. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it exploits the implicit trust that recipients place in emails originating from the system, making social engineering attacks more effective and potentially leading to credential theft or further system compromise.
The operational impact of CVE-2018-11044 extends beyond simple data corruption or display issues, as it enables sophisticated attack vectors that could result in significant security breaches. An attacker with legitimate access to the system can craft malicious invitations that, when opened by targeted users, could execute arbitrary code in their browsers or redirect them to malicious websites. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-79, which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws, and represents a privilege escalation scenario where authenticated users leverage their access to compromise other users. The attack surface is broad as any authenticated user can potentially exploit this weakness, making it particularly concerning for environments where multiple users have access to the application management interface.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate patching of affected versions to the recommended secure releases including 2.2.1, 2.1.8, 2.0.17, and 1.12.26 respectively. Organizations should implement comprehensive input validation and output encoding mechanisms for all user-provided content that gets included in email templates or any other system-generated communications. The fix should employ context-appropriate escaping techniques such as HTML entity encoding for web content and proper sanitization for email contexts. Security teams should also consider implementing additional monitoring for unusual invitation patterns or content that might indicate exploitation attempts. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to T1566 (Phishing) and T1059 (Command and Scripting Interpreter) as it enables both initial compromise through social engineering and potential execution of malicious payloads. Organizations should also review their email security configurations and implement email filtering rules that can detect and block suspicious content patterns that might be indicative of exploitation attempts.