CVE-2018-6491 in Universal CMDB
Summary
by MITRE
Local Escalation of Priviledge vulnerability to Micro Focus Universal CMDB, versions 10.20, 10.21, 10.22, 10.30, 10.31, 10.32, 10.33, 11.00. The vulnerability could be remotely exploited to Local Escalation of Privilege.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/07/2023
The CVE-2018-6491 vulnerability represents a critical local privilege escalation flaw within Micro Focus Universal CMDB versions 10.20 through 11.00, where an attacker with local access can exploit this weakness to elevate their privileges from standard user to administrative level. This vulnerability stems from inadequate privilege checking mechanisms within the application's execution environment, creating a pathway for unauthorized privilege elevation that directly violates security principles of least privilege and principle of least authority. The flaw specifically affects the application's handling of file permissions and process execution contexts, allowing local users to manipulate system resources that should be restricted to privileged operations.
This vulnerability manifests through improper validation of user permissions during critical system operations, particularly when the application executes with elevated privileges for legitimate administrative functions. The technical implementation fails to properly verify whether the current executing user has appropriate authorization levels for the operations being performed, creating a condition where local users can leverage this gap to gain unauthorized access to system resources. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-276, which addresses improper privileges, and represents a classic example of insufficient privilege checking in software applications. Attackers can exploit this by manipulating system calls or file access patterns that should normally be restricted to administrators, thereby bypassing the intended access controls.
The operational impact of CVE-2018-6491 extends beyond simple privilege escalation, as it provides attackers with the foundation for further system compromise and persistent access. Once elevated privileges are obtained, malicious actors can modify critical system files, install backdoors, access sensitive data repositories, and potentially establish persistence mechanisms within the target environment. This vulnerability particularly affects enterprise environments where Universal CMDB systems are deployed, as these platforms often contain sensitive configuration data and system information that can be leveraged for broader attacks. The remote exploitation capability mentioned in the description suggests that while initial access may require local presence, the vulnerability can be chained with other exploits to achieve remote privilege escalation, aligning with ATT&CK technique T1068 for local privilege escalation and T1548.001 for abuse of system permissions.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including applying the vendor-provided patches and updates that address the privilege validation flaws in affected Universal CMDB versions. System administrators should conduct comprehensive vulnerability assessments to identify all instances of the affected software and ensure proper access controls are in place to limit local user privileges. Additional defensive measures include implementing principle of least privilege for all system accounts, monitoring for unusual privilege escalation attempts, and ensuring proper file and directory permissions are enforced. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of robust privilege validation mechanisms and highlights the need for comprehensive security testing of administrative functions within enterprise applications. Regular security audits and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar privilege escalation vulnerabilities in other enterprise systems, as this flaw represents a common attack vector that can be exploited across various software platforms.