CVE-2018-5406 in Kace K1000
Summary
by MITRE
The Quest Kace K1000 Appliance, versions prior to 9.0.270, allows a remote attacker to exploit the misconfigured Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) mechanism. An unauthenticated, remote attacker could exploit this vulnerability to perform sensitive actions such as adding a new administrator account or changing the appliance?s settings. A malicious internal user could also gain administrator privileges of this appliance and use it to visit a malicious link that exploits this vulnerability. This could cause the application to perform sensitive actions such as adding a new administrator account or changing the appliance?s settings. An unauthenticated, remote attacker could add an administrator-level account or change the appliance's settings.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/06/2025
The Quest Kace K1000 Appliance represents a comprehensive IT asset management solution that serves as a central hub for enterprise network administration and monitoring. This appliance operates as a web-based interface that provides administrators with extensive control over network devices, software deployment, and system configurations. The vulnerability identified in versions prior to 9.0.270 stems from a critical misconfiguration in the Cross-Origin Resource Sharing implementation, which fundamentally undermines the security boundaries of the application. The affected appliance exposes a web service that fails to properly validate origin requests, creating an avenue for unauthorized manipulation of critical system functions through web-based attacks. This misconfiguration allows attackers to bypass normal authentication mechanisms and directly interact with the appliance's administrative functions through carefully crafted cross-origin requests.
The technical flaw manifests in the appliance's failure to implement proper CORS policy validation, specifically the absence of origin validation in the Access-Control-Allow-Origin header responses. This vulnerability operates under CWE-346, which addresses "Improper Verification of Source of a Communication Channel" and aligns with the broader category of insecure cross-origin resource sharing configurations. The flaw enables an attacker to construct malicious requests that appear to originate from legitimate sources within the appliance's domain, thereby tricking the application into executing administrative actions without proper authentication. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it operates at the HTTP protocol level, where the browser's same-origin policy is bypassed through the misconfigured CORS headers, allowing malicious requests to be processed as if they originated from trusted sources within the same domain.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple privilege escalation to encompass complete system compromise and potential lateral movement within enterprise networks. An unauthenticated remote attacker can leverage this vulnerability to add new administrator accounts, modify system configurations, or execute arbitrary commands on the appliance, effectively granting them complete control over the IT asset management infrastructure. The implications are severe because the K1000 appliance typically serves as a central management point for enterprise networks, making it a prime target for attackers seeking persistent access to organizational systems. The vulnerability also affects internal users who may be tricked into visiting malicious websites that exploit the CORS misconfiguration, allowing attackers to gain administrator privileges through social engineering combined with the technical vulnerability. This creates a particularly dangerous scenario where both external and internal threats can exploit the same vulnerability, significantly expanding the attack surface and potential impact.
The attack vector for this vulnerability follows patterns consistent with the attack techniques documented in the MITRE ATT&CK framework under the T1078 category for Valid Accounts and T1059 for Command and Scripting Interpreter. The exploitation process typically involves crafting malicious web pages or links that leverage the CORS misconfiguration to make authenticated requests to the appliance's API endpoints. These requests can target administrative functions such as user management, configuration changes, or system updates without requiring legitimate credentials. The vulnerability's impact is amplified by the fact that it affects the appliance's core administrative interface, meaning that successful exploitation can result in complete system compromise, data exfiltration, or the establishment of persistent backdoors within the enterprise network. Organizations using affected versions of the K1000 appliance face significant risk of unauthorized access to critical IT infrastructure, potentially leading to widespread system compromise and regulatory compliance violations.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate implementation of proper CORS policy enforcement and comprehensive security configuration reviews. Organizations should upgrade to version 9.0.270 or later, which includes fixed CORS implementation that properly validates origin headers and prevents unauthorized cross-origin requests. Network segmentation and firewall rules should be implemented to restrict access to the appliance's administrative interfaces, limiting exposure to both internal and external threats. The appliance should be configured with strict CORS policies that only allow requests from known, trusted domains and implement proper authentication requirements for all administrative endpoints. Regular security audits should verify that CORS configurations remain secure and that no additional misconfigurations have been introduced through custom modifications or third-party integrations. Additionally, network monitoring should be enhanced to detect unusual patterns of administrative access or cross-origin requests that may indicate exploitation attempts. These measures align with the NIST Cybersecurity Framework's core functions of protect and detect, ensuring that organizations maintain robust security postures against evolving threats targeting enterprise management infrastructure.