CVE-2018-11408 in Symfony
Summary
by MITRE
The security handlers in the Security component in Symfony in 2.7.x before 2.7.48, 2.8.x before 2.8.41, 3.3.x before 3.3.17, 3.4.x before 3.4.11, and 4.0.x before 4.0.11 have an Open redirect vulnerability when security.http_utils is inlined by a container. NOTE: this issue exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2017-16652.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/27/2023
The vulnerability described in CVE-2018-11408 represents a critical open redirect flaw within the Symfony security component that affects multiple version branches including 2.7.x through 2.8.40, 3.3.x through 3.3.16, 3.4.x through 3.4.10, and 4.0.x through 4.0.10. This issue specifically targets the security handlers in Symfony's Security component and manifests when the security.http_utils is inlined by a dependency injection container. The vulnerability stems from an incomplete remediation of a previously identified flaw, CVE-2017-16652, which demonstrates the complexity of security patching in web frameworks where partial fixes can leave systems vulnerable to exploitation.
The technical nature of this vulnerability lies in the improper validation of redirect URLs within Symfony's security infrastructure. When security.http_utils is inlined by the container, the framework fails to adequately sanitize or validate redirect targets, allowing attackers to craft malicious URLs that could redirect users to arbitrary external domains. This occurs because the security component does not sufficiently verify that redirect destinations are within the application's trusted domain boundaries or that they conform to expected URL patterns. The flaw particularly affects applications that utilize Symfony's built-in security mechanisms for handling user authentication flows, login redirects, and access control decisions.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant as it enables attackers to perform phishing attacks, credential harvesting, and social engineering campaigns by redirecting users to malicious domains. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by crafting a URL that appears legitimate but contains a malicious redirect parameter, potentially tricking users into visiting compromised websites where credentials or sensitive information could be captured. The vulnerability affects the core security infrastructure of Symfony applications, making it particularly dangerous as it can be leveraged across multiple application types that rely on Symfony's security framework for authentication and authorization. This issue particularly impacts web applications that handle user sessions, authentication flows, and access control decisions where redirect mechanisms are commonly employed.
Organizations should immediately upgrade to the patched versions of Symfony components to remediate this vulnerability, with specific version requirements including 2.7.48, 2.8.41, 3.3.17, 3.4.11, and 4.0.11 or later. The mitigation strategy should also include implementing additional security controls such as validating all redirect destinations against a whitelist of trusted domains, implementing proper URL validation mechanisms, and monitoring for suspicious redirect patterns in application logs. Security practitioners should also consider implementing network-level controls to prevent access to known malicious domains and establish proper input validation for all user-supplied redirect parameters. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-601 open redirect vulnerability classification and represents a significant concern within the ATT&CK framework under the initial access and credential access phases where attackers leverage web application vulnerabilities to redirect users to malicious sites.