CVE-2018-8299 in SharePoint Enterprise Server
Summary
by MITRE
An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists when Microsoft SharePoint Server does not properly sanitize a specially crafted web request to an affected SharePoint server, aka "Microsoft SharePoint Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability." This affects Microsoft SharePoint. This CVE ID is unique from CVE-2018-8323.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/05/2023
The vulnerability described in CVE-2018-8299 represents a critical elevation of privilege flaw within Microsoft SharePoint Server that arises from inadequate sanitization of web requests. This weakness allows attackers to exploit the system by crafting malicious web requests that bypass normal security controls, potentially enabling unauthorized users to escalate their privileges within the SharePoint environment. The vulnerability specifically impacts Microsoft SharePoint Server installations and demonstrates a fundamental failure in input validation mechanisms that should prevent malicious data from being processed as legitimate user requests.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from SharePoint Server's insufficient validation of incoming web requests, particularly those containing specially crafted payloads designed to manipulate the server's authentication and authorization processes. When the server processes these malformed requests, it fails to properly sanitize the input data, allowing malicious code or parameters to be interpreted as legitimate commands. This flaw operates at the application layer where HTTP requests are handled and processed, making it particularly dangerous as it can be exploited through standard web browser interactions without requiring specialized tools or advanced knowledge of the underlying system architecture.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability creates significant risk for organizations relying on SharePoint Server for document management, collaboration, and enterprise content services. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability could gain elevated privileges within the SharePoint environment, potentially allowing them to access sensitive documents, modify content, create new user accounts, or even escalate to system-level access depending on the server configuration. The impact extends beyond simple data theft as it could enable persistent access to the organization's SharePoint infrastructure, potentially leading to broader network compromise through lateral movement and privilege escalation attacks.
Organizations should implement multiple layers of defense to mitigate this vulnerability, including immediate patching of affected SharePoint Server installations, network segmentation to limit access to SharePoint servers, and enhanced monitoring of web requests for suspicious patterns. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-20, which describes "Improper Input Validation," and represents a classic example of how inadequate sanitization can lead to privilege escalation. From an attack framework perspective, this vulnerability would typically map to the privilege escalation phase in the MITRE ATT&CK framework, specifically targeting the "Exploitation for Privilege Escalation" technique. Security teams should also consider implementing web application firewalls and conducting thorough security assessments to identify any potential exploitation attempts that may have occurred before patch deployment.