CVE-2018-2445 in Business Intelligence
Summary
by MITRE
AdminTools in SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence, versions 4.1, 4.2, allows an attacker to manipulate the vulnerable application to send crafted requests on behalf of the application, resulting in a Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) vulnerability.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/15/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-2445 affects SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence AdminTools components across versions 4.1 and 4.2, representing a critical server-side request forgery flaw that enables attackers to manipulate the application into making unauthorized requests to internal systems. This vulnerability resides within the administrative tooling framework that governs business intelligence platform operations, creating a significant security risk when exploited by malicious actors. The flaw specifically manifests in the way the AdminTools component processes external requests and handles internal communication protocols, allowing unauthorized access to backend services that should remain isolated from external influence.
The technical implementation of this SSRF vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and improper request handling within the AdminTools framework. When the application receives crafted requests through its administrative interfaces, it fails to properly validate or sanitize the destination URLs or endpoints specified in these requests. This processing gap enables attackers to construct malicious payloads that can force the vulnerable application to initiate connections to internal network resources, bypassing normal network segmentation controls. The vulnerability operates at the application layer where the system's trust model is incorrectly applied, allowing the application to act as an unwitting proxy for attacker-controlled requests.
The operational impact of CVE-2018-2445 extends beyond simple unauthorized data access, creating potential pathways for lateral movement within corporate networks and enabling more sophisticated attack vectors. An attacker exploiting this vulnerability can potentially map internal network topology, access internal services, and even escalate privileges by targeting vulnerable internal systems that may not be directly exposed to the internet. The vulnerability affects the integrity and confidentiality of business intelligence platforms, as it could allow unauthorized access to sensitive reports, data sources, and administrative functions that the application normally protects. This exposure particularly impacts organizations relying on SAP BusinessObjects for critical business intelligence operations where the administrative tools serve as gateways to enterprise data repositories.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including network segmentation to isolate administrative interfaces from internal network resources, implementing strict firewall rules to restrict outbound connections from the vulnerable application, and applying the latest SAP security patches released for this vulnerability. The mitigation strategy should also include monitoring for suspicious outbound network activity and implementing web application firewalls to detect and block malicious SSRF attempts. According to CWE classification, this vulnerability maps to CWE-918 which specifically addresses server-side request forgery, while ATT&CK framework references this as part of T1190 - Proxying which involves using compromised systems to relay attacks. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper input validation and the principle of least privilege in administrative tooling, where the application should never be trusted to make arbitrary connections without proper authorization and validation mechanisms in place.