CVE-2018-20238 in Crowd
Summary
by MITRE
Various rest resources in Atlassian Crowd before version 3.2.7 and from version 3.3.0 before version 3.3.4 allow remote attackers to authenticate using an expired user session via an insufficient session expiration vulnerability.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/10/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-20238 represents a critical session management flaw in Atlassian Crowd authentication system affecting versions prior to 3.2.7 and between 3.3.0 and 3.3.3. This issue stems from inadequate session expiration mechanisms that permit unauthorized access through compromised or expired user sessions, creating a significant security risk for organizations relying on Crowd for identity management. The vulnerability operates at the application level and specifically targets the REST API endpoints that handle authentication and session management functions. Attackers can exploit this weakness to maintain access to systems even after legitimate user sessions have expired, effectively bypassing the intended security controls. The flaw falls under the category of insufficient session expiration as defined by CWE-613, which is classified as a weakness in the OWASP Top Ten 2017 and represents a persistent threat to authentication systems. This vulnerability aligns with attack patterns documented in the MITRE ATT&CK framework under the credential access tactics, specifically targeting the use of stolen or expired credentials for unauthorized system access. The technical implementation of this vulnerability demonstrates a failure in the session management subsystem where the system does not properly validate session expiration status before granting access to protected resources. This allows attackers to leverage previously valid session tokens that should have been invalidated due to timeout or other expiration criteria, creating a window of opportunity for unauthorized access. The impact extends beyond simple unauthorized access as it can enable privilege escalation and persistent access to sensitive organizational resources. Organizations utilizing Atlassian Crowd for centralized authentication and user management face significant risk when operating vulnerable versions, as this vulnerability can be exploited to maintain long-term access to systems without detection. The vulnerability's exploitation requires minimal technical expertise and can be automated, making it particularly dangerous in environments where Crowd serves as a critical authentication gateway for multiple applications and services. This flaw represents a fundamental breakdown in the authentication lifecycle management, where the system fails to properly enforce session expiration policies that are essential for maintaining security boundaries. The vulnerability's persistence across multiple version ranges indicates a systemic issue in the session management implementation that required multiple patch releases to address. Organizations implementing Crowd solutions must consider this vulnerability as part of their overall security posture assessment, particularly in environments where session hijacking or credential reuse attacks are possible. The remediation efforts should focus on implementing proper session validation mechanisms and ensuring that session expiration policies are enforced consistently across all REST endpoints. Security teams should also consider implementing additional monitoring and detection capabilities to identify potential exploitation attempts of this vulnerability, as the attack can occur without generating obvious audit trail indicators. The vulnerability's classification as a session management weakness emphasizes the importance of proper authentication design principles and adherence to security best practices in identity management systems. This issue serves as a reminder of the critical importance of session lifecycle management in enterprise authentication systems and the potential consequences of inadequate session validation controls. Organizations should conduct thorough vulnerability assessments to identify all potentially affected systems and ensure that all Crowd installations are updated to versions that properly address this session expiration vulnerability. The implementation of proper session timeout mechanisms and regular session validation checks would have prevented this vulnerability from being exploited in the first place.