CVE-2018-16161 in OpenDolphin
Summary
by MITRE
OpenDolphin 2.7.0 and earlier allows authenticated users to gain administrative privileges and perform unintended operations.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/13/2020
CVE-2018-16161 represents a critical privilege escalation vulnerability affecting OpenDolphin versions 2.7.0 and earlier. This vulnerability resides in the application's authorization mechanisms, where authenticated users can exploit flawed access control checks to elevate their privileges to administrative levels. The flaw stems from inadequate validation of user permissions during critical operations, allowing malicious actors with standard user accounts to perform actions typically restricted to administrators. This vulnerability directly maps to CWE-284 Access Control Issues, specifically addressing insufficient access control and privilege management failures. The technical implementation appears to lack proper role-based access control validation, enabling unauthorized privilege elevation through manipulated API calls or direct interface interactions. Attackers can leverage this weakness to gain complete control over the system, potentially leading to data breaches, system compromise, and unauthorized access to sensitive medical information within healthcare environments. The operational impact extends beyond simple privilege escalation, as administrators may be able to modify user accounts, access confidential patient data, and alter system configurations without proper authorization. This vulnerability particularly affects healthcare organizations using OpenDolphin for medical record management, where the compromise of administrative privileges could result in severe regulatory violations under HIPAA compliance requirements. The attack vector typically involves authenticated users exploiting the application's permission checking mechanisms, often through API endpoints or administrative interfaces that do not properly validate user roles. Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including patching to versions 2.7.1 or later, enforcing strict access control policies, and conducting comprehensive security assessments of all authenticated user sessions. Additionally, organizations should review their access control implementations against ATT&CK framework's privilege escalation techniques, particularly focusing on credential access and defense evasion tactics that may leverage similar weaknesses. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of robust access control design in healthcare applications where patient data security and regulatory compliance are paramount considerations for organizations implementing such systems.