CVE-2018-8652 in Azure Pack Rollup
Summary
by MITRE
A Cross-site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability exists when Windows Azure Pack does not properly sanitize user-provided input, aka "Windows Azure Pack Cross Site Scripting Vulnerability." This affects Windows Azure Pack Rollup 13.1.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/20/2020
The CVE-2018-8652 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw within Microsoft Windows Azure Pack infrastructure that emerged in Rollup 13.1. This vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and sanitization mechanisms within the web-based management interfaces of Azure Pack, which serves as a cloud management platform for deploying and managing cloud services. The flaw specifically manifests when the system fails to properly sanitize user-provided input before rendering it within web pages, creating an avenue for malicious actors to inject arbitrary script code into the application's response.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through the manipulation of input fields within Azure Pack's web interfaces where user data is accepted and subsequently processed. When an attacker crafts malicious input containing script tags or other malicious payloads and submits it through vulnerable endpoints, the system fails to adequately sanitize this data before displaying it to other users. This allows the injected scripts to execute within the context of the victim's browser session, potentially enabling unauthorized actions such as session hijacking, data theft, or redirection to malicious sites. The vulnerability is categorized under CWE-79 as "Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')", which is a fundamental web application security weakness that has been consistently identified as one of the most prevalent security flaws in web applications.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it can lead to comprehensive compromise of the Azure Pack management environment and potentially affect the broader cloud infrastructure it manages. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability gains the ability to manipulate the web interface, potentially accessing sensitive configuration data, user credentials, or administrative functions. The attack surface is particularly concerning because Azure Pack serves as a management platform for cloud services, meaning successful exploitation could enable attackers to compromise the entire cloud deployment environment. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for "Command and Scripting Interpreter: JavaScript' and T1531 for 'Account Access Removal', as it provides a means for attackers to execute malicious scripts and potentially escalate privileges within the compromised environment.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should prioritize immediate remediation through Microsoft's security patches and updates, as the flaw exists in the specific Rollup 13.1 release of Windows Azure Pack. The recommended mitigation strategies include implementing proper input validation and output encoding mechanisms, deploying web application firewalls to detect and block malicious script injection attempts, and conducting regular security assessments of the Azure Pack management interfaces. Additionally, network segmentation and least privilege access controls should be implemented to limit the potential damage from successful exploitation attempts. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of proper input sanitization in web applications and highlights the need for comprehensive security testing of management interfaces that handle user-provided data. Security teams should also consider implementing monitoring solutions that can detect anomalous script execution patterns and unauthorized modifications to the Azure Pack management interfaces, as these activities may indicate exploitation attempts.