CVE-2018-11075 in RSA Authentication Manager
Summary
by MITRE
RSA Authentication Manager versions prior to 8.3 P3 contain a reflected cross-site scripting vulnerability in a Security Console page. A remote, unauthenticated malicious user, with the knowledge of a target user's anti-CSRF token, could potentially exploit this vulnerability by tricking a victim Security Console user to supply malicious HTML or JavaScript code to the vulnerable web application, which code is then executed by the victim's web browser in the context of the vulnerable web application.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/19/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-11075 represents a critical reflected cross-site scripting flaw within RSA Authentication Manager versions before 8.3 P3. This security weakness resides in the Security Console web interface, making it particularly dangerous as it affects the core authentication management functionality that organizations rely upon for protecting their digital assets. The vulnerability's impact extends beyond simple data theft, as it can enable attackers to manipulate the authentication process itself, potentially leading to complete system compromise. The flaw specifically affects the web application's handling of user input in Security Console pages, where improperly sanitized parameters are reflected back to users without adequate output encoding or validation mechanisms.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability requires an attacker to craft malicious payloads that can be injected through reflected parameters in the web application's interface. The attack vector relies on social engineering techniques where an attacker must convince a legitimate Security Console user to click on a malicious link or interact with crafted content. This process typically involves the attacker knowing or obtaining a target user's anti-CSRF token, which is a critical prerequisite for successful exploitation. The reflected nature of the vulnerability means that malicious input is immediately returned by the web server in the HTTP response, making the attack particularly effective as it occurs in real-time without requiring persistent modifications to the application. The vulnerability falls under CWE-79 which specifically addresses Cross-Site Scripting flaws, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for Scripting, as it enables attackers to execute arbitrary code within the victim's browser context.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe for organizations utilizing RSA Authentication Manager, as it provides attackers with a potential pathway to escalate privileges and gain unauthorized access to sensitive authentication data. A successful exploitation could allow attackers to execute malicious scripts that might steal session cookies, redirect users to phishing sites, or modify authentication flows. The vulnerability particularly threatens organizations that depend on RSA Authentication Manager for multi-factor authentication, as it could undermine the entire security architecture. Attackers could potentially use this vulnerability to create persistent access points or to manipulate user sessions, making it a high-value target for threat actors. The unauthenticated nature of the attack means that organizations do not need to be actively under attack to be vulnerable, as the flaw exists in the application's codebase regardless of active threats.
Organizations should immediately implement mitigation strategies including applying the vendor-provided patches for RSA Authentication Manager 8.3 P3 and higher versions, which address the reflected XSS vulnerability through proper input sanitization and output encoding mechanisms. Network segmentation and web application firewalls can provide additional layers of protection by monitoring for suspicious traffic patterns and blocking known malicious payloads. Security awareness training for administrators is crucial to prevent social engineering attacks that exploit this vulnerability, as the successful exploitation requires user interaction through deceptive links. Regular security assessments and penetration testing should include validation of input sanitization mechanisms to ensure that similar vulnerabilities do not exist in other parts of the application. The remediation process should also include monitoring for anomalous user behavior patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts, as well as implementing proper logging and alerting mechanisms to detect potential attacks targeting this vulnerability. Organizations should also consider implementing additional authentication controls and access restrictions for the Security Console to limit the potential impact of successful exploitation attempts.