CVE-2018-2432 in Business Intelligence
Summary
by MITRE
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence (BI Launchpad and Central Management Console) versions 4.10, 4.20 and 4.30 allow an attacker to include invalidated data in the HTTP response header sent to a Web user. Successful exploitation of this vulnerability may lead to advanced attacks, including: cross-site scripting and page hijacking.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/02/2020
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence platforms across versions 4.10, 4.20, and 4.30 contain a critical vulnerability in their HTTP response header handling mechanism that enables attackers to inject malicious content into web responses. This vulnerability specifically affects the BI Launchpad and Central Management Console components, which are fundamental interfaces for business intelligence data access and administration. The flaw stems from inadequate input validation and sanitization processes within the web server response generation pipeline, where user-supplied data is not properly filtered before being incorporated into HTTP headers. This weakness creates an avenue for attackers to manipulate the server's response behavior and potentially compromise user sessions or data integrity.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through the manipulation of HTTP response headers, where invalidated data from user inputs can be injected into the server's response structure. This injection allows attackers to modify header values such as content-type, cache-control, or other critical response parameters that govern how browsers process and render web content. When combined with other attack vectors, this vulnerability can facilitate sophisticated cross-site scripting attacks by injecting malicious scripts into the HTTP headers that get executed in the victim's browser context. The vulnerability manifests as a classic injection flaw that aligns with CWE-79 (Cross-site Scripting) and CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation) classifications, demonstrating the fundamental weakness in input sanitization processes that should prevent such data contamination.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data corruption, creating significant risks for enterprise environments that rely on SAP BusinessObjects for critical business intelligence operations. Attackers can leverage this weakness to perform page hijacking by manipulating the HTTP headers to redirect users to malicious sites or inject false content into legitimate web pages. This capability enables sophisticated social engineering attacks where users are unknowingly redirected to phishing sites or exposed to malicious content that appears to originate from trusted business intelligence platforms. The vulnerability particularly affects organizations with extensive SAP BI deployments, as the compromised interfaces serve as entry points for broader network infiltration attempts. According to ATT&CK framework, this vulnerability maps to T1059 (Command and Scripting Interpreter) and T1566 (Phishing) techniques, as it enables both automated script injection and user deception through manipulated web content.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including comprehensive input validation at all entry points, implementation of proper HTTP header sanitization, and deployment of web application firewalls to monitor and filter malicious header injections. SAP has released patches for this vulnerability in subsequent releases, and organizations must prioritize upgrading to patched versions to eliminate the risk of exploitation. Additional protective measures include implementing Content Security Policy headers, disabling unnecessary HTTP methods, and conducting regular security assessments of web application interfaces. The vulnerability underscores the importance of robust input validation and output encoding practices in web applications, particularly in enterprise environments where business intelligence platforms handle sensitive organizational data. Security monitoring should focus on anomalous HTTP header patterns and unusual response behaviors that may indicate exploitation attempts.