CVE-2018-15631 in Community
Summary
by MITRE
Improper access control in the Discuss App of Odoo Community 12.0 and earlier, and Odoo Enterprise 12.0 and earlier allows remote authenticated attackers to e-mail themselves arbitrary files from the database, via a crafted RPC request.
Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/28/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-15631 represents a critical improper access control flaw within the Discuss App of Odoo Community and Enterprise versions 12.0 and earlier. This security weakness stems from inadequate authorization checks that permit authenticated users to exploit a remote code execution vector through crafted rpc requests. The vulnerability specifically affects the email functionality within the Discuss App, which serves as a communication module for users to exchange messages and files within the Odoo platform. Attackers can leverage this flaw to gain unauthorized access to database content and potentially extract sensitive information or files that should remain restricted to authorized personnel only.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves the RPC (Remote Procedure Call) mechanism within Odoo's architecture where the application fails to properly validate user permissions before processing file retrieval requests. When an authenticated user sends a specially crafted RPC request, the system processes the request without adequate verification of the user's access rights to the requested database objects. This misconfiguration creates a path for attackers to bypass normal access controls and retrieve arbitrary files from the underlying database. The flaw operates at the application layer and requires only authentication credentials to exploit, making it particularly dangerous as it can be leveraged by users who already have legitimate access to the system but should not be able to access all available data.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data theft, as it can enable attackers to escalate their privileges within the Odoo environment and potentially access sensitive business information, user credentials, or proprietary data. The vulnerability affects organizations using Odoo's collaborative features where users might have broad access rights but should be restricted from accessing certain database elements. This flaw can result in compliance violations, data breaches, and significant financial losses for affected organizations. The remote nature of the attack means that exploitation can occur from anywhere on the internet, provided the attacker has valid user credentials, making it particularly challenging to detect and prevent.
Organizations should immediately implement mitigations including updating to versions of Odoo that have patched this vulnerability, implementing network segmentation to limit access to the Discuss App functionality, and enforcing stricter access controls for authenticated users. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-284 which addresses improper access control issues, and can be mapped to ATT&CK technique T1078 for valid accounts and T1005 for data from local systems. Additional protective measures include monitoring rpc request patterns for anomalous behavior, implementing role-based access controls, and conducting regular security audits of the Odoo application's permission settings. Organizations should also consider deploying web application firewalls to detect and block malicious rpc requests that attempt to exploit this access control flaw.