CVE-2018-9867 in SonicOS
Summary
by MITRE
In SonicWall SonicOS, administrators without full permissions can download imported certificates. Occurs when administrators who are not in the SonicWall Administrators user group attempt to download imported certificates. This vulnerability affected SonicOS Gen 5 version 5.9.1.10 and earlier.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/11/2020
This vulnerability exists within SonicWall SonicOS firmware versions 5.9.1.10 and earlier, where administrative users lacking full permissions can still download imported certificates from the system. The flaw represents a privilege escalation issue that undermines the intended access control mechanisms within the SonicOS administrative framework. The vulnerability specifically affects administrators who are not members of the SonicWall Administrators user group but still possess the ability to access certificate download functionality. This represents a significant security weakness in the firmware's permission model and certificate management controls.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient access control validation within the certificate download functionality. When administrators attempt to download imported certificates, the system fails to properly verify whether the requesting user possesses adequate privileges to perform this action. This misconfiguration allows users with limited administrative permissions to bypass normal access restrictions and retrieve certificate files that should be restricted to full administrators. The vulnerability operates at the application layer of the SonicOS architecture, specifically within the web interface administration components that handle certificate management operations.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple information disclosure, as certificate files often contain sensitive cryptographic material including private keys, public keys, and certificate authority information. An attacker exploiting this vulnerability could potentially gain access to encryption keys used for SSL/TLS termination, secure communications, and other cryptographic functions within the network infrastructure. This access could enable man-in-the-middle attacks, decryption of intercepted traffic, or impersonation of legitimate services within the protected network environment. The vulnerability affects the integrity and confidentiality of the entire SonicWall appliance's security posture.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should immediately implement the security patch released by SonicWall to address the privilege escalation issue. The recommended mitigation includes upgrading to SonicOS version 5.9.1.11 or later, which contains the necessary access control fixes. Additionally, administrators should conduct thorough audits of user permissions and roles within the SonicOS environment to ensure that only authorized personnel maintain access to certificate management functions. Network security teams should monitor for unauthorized certificate access attempts and implement additional logging controls to detect potential exploitation of this vulnerability. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-284 which addresses improper access control and relates to ATT&CK technique T1552.001 for credentials in files and T1071.004 for application layer protocol. Organizations should also consider implementing network segmentation and monitoring controls to limit the potential impact of such privilege escalation vulnerabilities within their security infrastructure.