CVE-2018-18696 in Analytics
Summary
by MITRE
main.aspx in Microstrategy Analytics 10.4.0026.0049 and earlier has CSRF.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/05/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-18696 represents a cross-site request forgery flaw discovered in Microstrategy Analytics version 10.4.0026.0049 and earlier. This issue resides within the main.aspx component of the web application, which serves as a critical entry point for user interactions and administrative functions within the analytics platform. The presence of CSRF vulnerabilities in enterprise analytics systems poses significant risks to organizations relying on Microstrategy for business intelligence and data analysis operations.
Cross-site request forgery vulnerabilities occur when a web application fails to properly validate the origin of requests originating from external sources. In the context of Microstrategy Analytics, this flaw allows malicious actors to trick authenticated users into executing unintended actions against the web application without their knowledge or consent. The vulnerability specifically affects the main.aspx page, which likely handles user authentication, session management, and core application functionality, making it a prime target for exploitation. Attackers could leverage this weakness to perform unauthorized operations such as changing user permissions, modifying data configurations, or executing administrative commands on behalf of legitimate users.
The operational impact of this CSRF vulnerability extends beyond simple data manipulation, potentially compromising the integrity and confidentiality of business intelligence data within organizations. When exploited, the vulnerability could enable attackers to gain unauthorized access to sensitive analytics reports, modify dashboard configurations, or manipulate underlying data sources that feed into critical business intelligence systems. This poses particular risks in enterprise environments where Microstrategy Analytics serves as a central hub for decision-making processes, as unauthorized modifications could lead to incorrect business insights or data corruption. The vulnerability's presence in versions up to 10.4.0026.0049 indicates a widespread exposure across multiple deployments, suggesting that numerous organizations may be vulnerable to this class of attack.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including the implementation of anti-CSRF tokens within all state-changing requests, proper validation of referer headers, and enforcement of same-site cookies to prevent unauthorized cross-origin requests. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery weaknesses in software applications. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to technique T1213.002, which involves data from information repositories, as attackers could potentially access or modify stored analytics data through unauthorized session manipulation. Additionally, the issue corresponds to T1078.004, which covers valid accounts, as successful exploitation could allow attackers to maintain persistence through compromised user sessions. The remediation strategy should include upgrading to patched versions of Microstrategy Analytics, implementing comprehensive web application firewall rules, and conducting thorough security assessments of all web applications within the organization's attack surface to identify similar vulnerabilities that may exist in other components of the analytics infrastructure.