CVE-2018-5691 in Global Management System
Summary
by MITRE
SonicWall Global Management System (GMS) 8.1 has XSS via the `newName` and `Name` values of the `/sgms/TreeControl` module.
Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/23/2019
The SonicWall Global Management System GMS version 8.1 contains a cross-site scripting vulnerability within its TreeControl module that presents significant security risks to organizations relying on this network security infrastructure. This vulnerability specifically affects the handling of user-supplied input parameters named `newName` and `Name` within the `/sgms/TreeControl` endpoint, creating an avenue for malicious actors to execute arbitrary script code within the context of authenticated users' browsers.
The technical flaw stems from insufficient input validation and output encoding within the GMS web interface implementation. When users interact with the TreeControl module and provide values for the `newName` or `Name` parameters, the system fails to properly sanitize or escape these inputs before rendering them in the web response. This allows attackers to inject malicious JavaScript code that gets executed when other authenticated users view the affected pages, making it a classic server-side cross-site scripting vulnerability that leverages the trust relationship between the web application and its users.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution as it can enable attackers to perform a range of malicious activities including session hijacking, data exfiltration, and privilege escalation within the GMS environment. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability could potentially gain access to sensitive network configuration data, manipulate security policies, or establish persistent access to the management interface. Given that the GMS serves as a centralized management platform for SonicWall firewalls, this vulnerability could compromise the entire security infrastructure of an organization, affecting multiple network devices under management.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including applying the vendor-provided security patches, implementing web application firewalls to filter malicious payloads, and conducting thorough security assessments of the GMS environment. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-79 which defines cross-site scripting as a weakness where applications fail to properly validate or escape user-controllable data. From an adversary perspective, this vulnerability maps to ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for scripting and T1566.001 for spearphishing with malicious attachments, as attackers could leverage this weakness to deliver malicious payloads through compromised management sessions. The risk assessment should consider that the vulnerability requires authenticated access to the GMS interface, but once exploited, could provide attackers with elevated privileges and persistent access to critical network security controls.