CVE-2018-5706 in Octopus Deploy
Summary
by MITRE
An issue was discovered in Octopus Deploy before 4.1.9. Any user with user editing permissions can modify teams to give themselves Administer System permissions even if they didn't have them, as demonstrated by use of the RoleEdit or TeamEdit permission.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/20/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-5706 represents a critical access control flaw within Octopus Deploy version 4.1.8 and earlier, where unauthorized privilege escalation occurs through improper permission validation mechanisms. This issue specifically targets the application's team management functionality, allowing malicious actors with limited user editing permissions to manipulate system access controls and elevate their privileges to administrative levels. The vulnerability stems from insufficient validation of permission changes when modifying team memberships, creating a path for privilege escalation that directly violates fundamental security principles of least privilege and access control enforcement.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability resides in the application's permission validation logic within the TeamEdit and RoleEdit functionality. When users with user editing permissions attempt to modify team assignments, the system fails to properly validate whether the modifying user possesses the necessary administrative permissions to grant Administer System privileges. This validation gap allows attackers to exploit the system by adding themselves to teams that already possess administrative roles, effectively bypassing the normal permission checking mechanisms. The flaw operates at the application layer and demonstrates a classic case of insufficient authorization checks that aligns with CWE-285, which addresses improper authorization in software systems.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple privilege escalation, as it fundamentally undermines the security model of the Octopus Deploy platform. Attackers can leverage this weakness to gain complete administrative control over deployment environments, potentially leading to unauthorized code deployments, configuration changes, data exfiltration, and system compromise. The vulnerability affects organizations that rely on Octopus Deploy for continuous integration and deployment operations, where administrative access could enable attackers to manipulate critical infrastructure. This issue particularly impacts DevOps environments where deployment automation systems contain sensitive production credentials and access to critical infrastructure components, making the privilege escalation capability extremely dangerous.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including upgrading to Octopus Deploy version 4.1.9 or later, which contains the necessary patch for this vulnerability. Security teams should also conduct comprehensive audits of existing team memberships and permissions to identify any potential abuse of this vulnerability. Additional defensive measures include implementing network segmentation around deployment systems, enforcing multi-factor authentication for administrative accounts, and establishing robust monitoring for unusual permission changes. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper access control validation and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1078.004 for Valid Accounts and T1484.001 for Group Policy Modification, highlighting the need for comprehensive security controls beyond simple patch management. Organizations should also consider implementing privileged access management solutions and regular security assessments to identify similar authorization flaws in their deployment and automation systems.