CVE-2018-12412 in FTL
Summary
by MITRE
The realm server (tibrealmserver) component of TIBCO Software Inc. TIBCO FTL - Community Edition, TIBCO FTL - Developer Edition, and TIBCO FTL - Enterprise Edition contains a vulnerability which may allow an attacker to perform cross-site request forgery (CSRF) attacks. Affected releases are TIBCO Software Inc. TIBCO FTL - Community Edition: versions up to and including 5.4.0, TIBCO FTL - Developer Edition: versions up to and including 5.4.0, TIBCO FTL - Enterprise Edition: versions up to and including 5.4.0.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/04/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-12412 affects the realm server component of TIBCO Software Inc.'s TIBCO FTL (TIBCO Flow Team Library) products across all editions including Community, Developer, and Enterprise versions up to and including 5.4.0. This represents a critical security flaw that compromises the integrity of web-based administrative interfaces and user authentication mechanisms within the TIBCO FTL platform. The affected realm server component serves as the central authentication and authorization service that manages user sessions and access control for the entire platform, making it a prime target for malicious actors seeking unauthorized access to sensitive system resources.
The technical flaw manifests as a cross-site request forgery vulnerability that allows attackers to execute unauthorized commands on behalf of authenticated users. This CSRF weakness occurs when the realm server fails to properly validate the origin of HTTP requests, particularly those containing administrative actions or session management operations. Attackers can craft malicious web pages or exploit existing vulnerabilities in web browsers to trick authenticated users into performing unintended actions such as changing passwords, modifying user permissions, or creating new administrative accounts. The vulnerability stems from inadequate implementation of anti-CSRF tokens or missing validation mechanisms that should ensure requests originate from legitimate sources within the application's own domain.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is substantial as it can lead to complete compromise of the TIBCO FTL environment's administrative functions. An attacker who successfully exploits this CSRF vulnerability could gain unauthorized access to sensitive data, modify critical system configurations, or escalate privileges to full administrative control. The affected versions of TIBCO FTL are particularly vulnerable because they lack proper request origin validation and token generation mechanisms that would normally prevent unauthorized modifications to user sessions or administrative functions. This vulnerability directly violates security principles outlined in CWE-352, which specifically addresses cross-site request forgery vulnerabilities, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1548.003 for Abusing Sudo or Sudoers for privilege escalation. The attack surface is further expanded by the fact that the realm server handles authentication and authorization functions, making it a critical component for maintaining system integrity and user access controls.
Organizations using affected TIBCO FTL versions should immediately implement mitigations including applying available patches from TIBCO Software Inc., implementing additional request validation mechanisms, and reviewing all existing user sessions for potential compromise. Network segmentation and monitoring should be enhanced to detect suspicious authentication patterns or unauthorized administrative activities. The recommended approach includes deploying anti-CSRF tokens for all state-changing operations, implementing strict referer header validation, and ensuring that all administrative functions require explicit user confirmation before execution. Security teams should also conduct thorough audits of user permissions and access controls to identify any potential unauthorized changes that may have occurred during the vulnerability's active period. The vulnerability's classification as a medium to high severity issue according to industry standards necessitates immediate remediation efforts to prevent potential data breaches or system compromise that could affect enterprise-level applications relying on TIBCO FTL for message routing and data processing operations.