CVE-2018-2370 in Central Management Console
Summary
by MITRE
Server Side Request Forgery (SSRF) vulnerability in SAP Central Management Console, BI Launchpad and Fiori BI Launchpad, 4.10, from 4.20, from 4.30, could allow a malicious user to use common techniques to determine which ports are in use on the backend server.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/03/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-2370 represents a critical Server Side Request Forgery flaw affecting SAP Central Management Console BI Launchpad and Fiori BI Launchpad components across versions 4.10 through 4.30. This vulnerability falls under the Common Weakness Enumeration category CWE-918, which specifically addresses Server-Side Request Forgery vulnerabilities that enable attackers to manipulate server-side requests to access internal resources. The flaw allows malicious actors to exploit the application's inability to properly validate and sanitize external resource requests, creating an avenue for unauthorized reconnaissance of backend systems.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation within the SAP application's request handling mechanisms. When users interact with the affected components, particularly through the BI Launchpad interfaces, the system processes external resource requests without adequate restrictions on the target URLs or endpoints. This weakness enables attackers to craft malicious requests that can traverse internal network boundaries and probe backend services. The vulnerability specifically permits port scanning activities, allowing attackers to identify which ports are actively listening on internal servers, thereby revealing potential attack vectors and system configurations.
Operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple reconnaissance as it provides attackers with critical intelligence for subsequent exploitation phases. The ability to determine active ports on backend servers creates a foundation for more sophisticated attacks including service enumeration, vulnerability scanning, and potentially lateral movement within the network. According to the MITRE ATT&CK framework, this vulnerability maps to technique T1046 Network Service Scanning, where adversaries use network reconnaissance to identify accessible services. The information gathered through this SSRF attack can be leveraged to identify vulnerable services, misconfigurations, or sensitive endpoints that may be exploited in follow-up attacks.
Organizations utilizing affected SAP components face significant security risks from this vulnerability, particularly in environments where internal network segmentation is not properly enforced. The vulnerability affects the authentication and authorization boundaries of SAP applications, potentially allowing attackers to bypass traditional network security controls. Security teams should consider implementing network-level restrictions to prevent communication between application servers and internal backend systems, as well as deploying web application firewalls that can detect and block suspicious request patterns. The vulnerability highlights the importance of proper input validation and the principle of least privilege in application design, where external inputs should never be directly used to construct internal resource requests without comprehensive sanitization and validation mechanisms.
Mitigation strategies should focus on implementing robust input validation controls, restricting outbound network communications from affected servers, and applying SAP security patches released for this vulnerability. Organizations should also conduct comprehensive network segmentation to limit the potential impact of successful exploitation attempts. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical need for regular security assessments of enterprise applications, particularly those handling external user inputs, and emphasizes the importance of maintaining up-to-date security configurations as outlined in industry best practices for SAP security management and compliance requirements.