CVE-2018-8890 in Management Console UEM
Summary
by MITRE
An information disclosure vulnerability in the Management Console of BlackBerry UEM 12.8.0 and 12.8.1 could allow an attacker to take over a UEM user's session and perform administrative actions in the context of the user.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/02/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-8890 represents a critical information disclosure flaw within the Management Console of BlackBerry UEM versions 12.8.0 and 12.8.1. This weakness stems from inadequate session management mechanisms that fail to properly validate user authentication tokens and session identifiers. The flaw allows an attacker to exploit session hijacking techniques to gain unauthorized access to administrative functions, effectively enabling privilege escalation and complete control over user sessions within the BlackBerry UEM environment.
This vulnerability operates through a session fixation and token management weakness that aligns with CWE-384, which addresses session management issues where applications fail to properly handle session identifiers. The flaw specifically manifests when the system does not adequately refresh session tokens upon successful authentication, leaving existing session identifiers vulnerable to exploitation. Attackers can leverage this weakness to capture valid session cookies and reuse them to impersonate authenticated users, particularly targeting administrative accounts that possess elevated privileges within the mobile device management infrastructure.
The operational impact of CVE-2018-8890 extends beyond simple information disclosure to encompass complete administrative compromise of the BlackBerry UEM platform. Once an attacker successfully hijacks a session, they can perform any administrative action available to that user, including managing device configurations, creating or modifying user accounts, deploying security policies, and accessing sensitive corporate data managed through the UEM system. This represents a significant threat to enterprise security as BlackBerry UEM typically serves as a central management point for mobile device policies and corporate data protection, making successful exploitation equivalent to gaining a foothold in the organization's mobile security infrastructure.
The vulnerability demonstrates characteristics consistent with ATT&CK technique T1548.002, which focuses on abuse of group privileges, as the attacker can leverage legitimate administrative session tokens to execute privileged operations within the UEM environment. Organizations using BlackBerry UEM 12.8.0 and 12.8.1 face substantial risk of unauthorized access to mobile device management capabilities, potentially enabling attackers to deploy malicious configurations, disable security features, or exfiltrate sensitive information from managed devices. The attack surface is particularly concerning given that UEM platforms typically handle critical enterprise mobile security functions and maintain access to corporate data across multiple device types and operating systems.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2018-8890 require immediate implementation of session management improvements including proper session token regeneration upon authentication, enforcement of secure session cookie attributes such as HttpOnly and Secure flags, and implementation of robust session timeout mechanisms. Organizations should upgrade to BlackBerry UEM versions that address this vulnerability, as the vendor has released patches to resolve the session management flaws. Network segmentation and monitoring of UEM console access should be implemented to detect unauthorized session activity, while multi-factor authentication should be enforced for administrative accounts to reduce the impact of successful session hijacking attempts. Additionally, regular security audits of session management implementations and comprehensive employee training on recognizing session-related security threats should be conducted to minimize the risk of exploitation.