CVE-2018-3671 in Saffron MemoryBase
Summary
by MITRE
Escalation of privilege in Intel Saffron admin application before 11.4 allows an authenticated user to access unauthorized information.
Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/12/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-3671 represents a critical privilege escalation flaw within the Intel Saffron admin application ecosystem. This security weakness affects versions prior to 11.4 and specifically targets the administrative interface of Intel's Saffron platform, which is designed for enterprise analytics and data processing solutions. The vulnerability stems from insufficient access controls and authentication mechanisms within the application's administrative subsystem, creating a pathway for authenticated users to bypass normal security boundaries and gain unauthorized access to sensitive information and system resources.
The technical flaw manifests through inadequate authorization checks within the application's administrative functions, allowing an attacker who has already established legitimate authentication credentials to escalate their privileges beyond what should be permitted. This weakness operates at the application level rather than the system level, making it particularly dangerous as it leverages existing valid user sessions to expand access rights. The vulnerability can be categorized under CWE-284 which specifically addresses improper access control mechanisms, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1078 which covers valid accounts as a means of gaining access to systems. The flaw essentially creates a backdoor within the application's permission model where legitimate users can manipulate their access levels to obtain administrative privileges or access restricted data sets.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability poses significant risks to enterprise environments that rely on Intel Saffron for business intelligence and analytics processing. An authenticated user with malicious intent could potentially access confidential business data, financial records, customer information, or proprietary research data that should remain restricted to authorized administrators. The impact extends beyond simple data exposure as the privilege escalation capability could enable attackers to modify system configurations, install malicious software, or disrupt normal business operations. Organizations using the affected versions of the application face potential regulatory compliance violations, financial losses, and reputational damage if this vulnerability is exploited in production environments.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2018-3671 primarily focus on immediate remediation through software updates to version 11.4 or later, which contains the necessary patches to address the access control vulnerabilities. Organizations should also implement additional security measures including network segmentation to limit access to the Saffron administration interface, regular monitoring of administrative access logs for suspicious activities, and enforcement of principle of least privilege for all administrative accounts. Security teams should conduct comprehensive vulnerability assessments to identify any other potential access control weaknesses within the enterprise environment and consider implementing multi-factor authentication for administrative accounts. The remediation process should include thorough testing of the updated application to ensure that the patch does not introduce compatibility issues with existing enterprise workflows or data processing pipelines. Additionally, organizations should review and strengthen their overall security posture by implementing proper access control policies and conducting regular security audits of their analytics and business intelligence platforms.