CVE-2018-15658 in SureMDM
Summary
by MITRE
An issue was discovered in 42Gears SureMDM before 2018-11-27. By visiting the page found at /console/ConsolePage/Master.html, an attacker is able to see the markup that would be presented to an authenticated user. This is caused by the session validation occurring after the initial markup is loaded. This results in a list of unprotected API endpoints that disclose call logs, SMS logs, and user-account data.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/04/2023
This vulnerability in 42Gears SureMDM represents a critical session management flaw that exposes sensitive data through improper access control implementation. The issue stems from the application's architecture where markup generation occurs before session validation is performed, creating a window of opportunity for unauthenticated attackers to access protected content. The specific page path /console/ConsolePage/Master.html serves as the entry point for this information disclosure vulnerability, allowing attackers to retrieve HTML content that should only be visible to authenticated users. This architectural weakness directly violates the principle of least privilege and demonstrates a fundamental flaw in the application's security design.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through a timing attack pattern where the application renders the user interface markup before validating whether the requesting user possesses valid authentication credentials. This design flaw enables attackers to bypass authentication mechanisms entirely by simply accessing the vulnerable endpoint, which then serves the complete HTML structure including data elements that should remain hidden from unauthorized users. The vulnerability affects multiple sensitive data categories including call logs, SMS logs, and user account information, creating a comprehensive data exposure scenario that could lead to significant privacy breaches and potential identity theft.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple information disclosure to encompass potential compromise of user privacy and corporate data integrity. Attackers can access detailed call history and messaging records which may contain sensitive personal or business information, while user account data exposure could facilitate further authentication attacks or social engineering attempts. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-613, which addresses insufficient session validation, and represents a classic case of insecure direct object references that allows unauthorized access to protected resources. The timing of the session validation relative to content rendering creates an exploitable condition that violates fundamental web application security principles.
Organizations using 42Gears SureMDM should immediately implement the vendor-provided patch released on or before November 27, 2018, to address this vulnerability. Additional mitigations include implementing proper input validation and authentication checks at the application level, ensuring that all content generation occurs only after successful session validation, and conducting regular security assessments to identify similar timing-based vulnerabilities. Network-level protections such as web application firewalls and access controls should also be deployed to limit exposure while the primary fix is implemented. This vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of proper session management in web applications and serves as a reminder of how architectural design flaws can create widespread security implications across multiple data domains. The incident highlights the need for comprehensive security testing including timing and access control validation to prevent similar vulnerabilities in other applications.