CVE-2018-14885 in Community
Summary
by MITRE
Incorrect access control in the database manager component in Odoo Community 10.0 and 11.0 and Odoo Enterprise 10.0 and 11.0 allows a remote attacker to restore a database dump without knowing the super-admin password. An arbitrary password succeeds.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/09/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-14885 represents a critical access control flaw within the database manager component of Odoo Community and Enterprise editions version 10.0 and 11.0. This issue affects organizations that rely on Odoo's database management capabilities for their business operations, particularly those using the web interface for administrative tasks. The flaw exists in the authentication mechanism that governs database restoration operations, creating a significant security gap that undermines the integrity of the system's access controls.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from improper validation of authentication credentials during database restoration processes. When an attacker attempts to restore a database dump through the web interface, the system fails to properly verify the administrative credentials before permitting the operation to proceed. This allows any user with access to the database manager component to successfully restore a database dump regardless of their actual administrative privileges or knowledge of the super-admin password. The flaw essentially bypasses the intended authentication checks that should prevent unauthorized database restoration activities.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability creates a severe risk for organizations using Odoo systems as it enables remote attackers to potentially overwrite production databases with malicious data or restore compromised database states. The ability to restore arbitrary database dumps without proper authentication means that attackers could inject malicious code, corrupt existing data, or completely replace operational databases with unauthorized content. This threat is particularly dangerous because it operates without requiring knowledge of administrative passwords, making detection and prevention more challenging for system administrators.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-284, which addresses improper access control issues, and demonstrates how inadequate authentication mechanisms can lead to privilege escalation and unauthorized system modifications. From an attacker's perspective, this weakness maps to ATT&CK technique T1078 which covers valid accounts and T1484 which covers elevation of privileges through database manipulation. Organizations should consider implementing network segmentation and access controls to limit exposure to this vulnerability, while also ensuring that all Odoo instances are updated to versions that properly address this access control flaw.
Mitigation strategies should include immediate patching of affected systems to the latest available versions that contain proper authentication checks for database restoration operations. System administrators should also implement additional monitoring controls to detect unauthorized database restoration attempts and establish network-level restrictions that limit access to database management interfaces. The vulnerability highlights the importance of proper authentication mechanisms in database management systems and underscores the need for comprehensive security testing of administrative interfaces to prevent similar access control failures. Organizations should conduct thorough security assessments of their Odoo installations to identify and remediate similar vulnerabilities that could compromise database integrity and system security.