CVE-2019-0352 in Business Intelligence Platform
Summary
by MITRE
In SAP Business Objects Business Intelligence Platform, before versions 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3, some dynamic pages (like jsp) are cached, which leads to an attacker can see the sensitive information via cache and can open the dynamic pages even after logout.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/18/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-0352 affects SAP Business Objects Business Intelligence Platform across multiple versions prior to 4.1, 4.2, and 4.3, representing a critical security flaw in the platform's session management and caching mechanisms. This issue stems from improper handling of dynamic pages within the web application framework, where jsp pages are cached in a manner that persists beyond user authentication boundaries. The flaw allows unauthorized access to sensitive information that should only be available to authenticated users, creating a significant data exposure risk.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability resides in the platform's caching strategy for dynamic content, specifically affecting jsp pages that are processed server-side. When users access dynamic pages within the Business Objects platform, the system caches these pages in memory or on disk without proper consideration for user context or session state. This caching behavior violates fundamental security principles by maintaining rendered content even after users have logged out, effectively creating a cache-based information leak. The vulnerability manifests when an attacker can access cached dynamic pages that contain sensitive data, potentially including user-specific reports, dashboards, or business intelligence content that was previously rendered for authenticated users.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability creates a substantial risk for organizations utilizing SAP Business Objects, as it allows attackers to potentially access confidential business intelligence data, user reports, and analytical content that should remain protected within authenticated sessions. The impact extends beyond simple information disclosure to include potential business process manipulation and competitive intelligence theft. The vulnerability operates silently without requiring additional authentication once the initial cached content is accessed, making it particularly dangerous as it can persist across multiple user sessions and even system restarts depending on the caching implementation. Organizations may experience unauthorized access to sensitive financial reports, strategic business data, or user-specific analytical dashboards, potentially leading to significant financial and reputational damage.
The security implications of this vulnerability align with CWE-200 (Information Exposure) and CWE-352 (Cross-Site Request Forgery) categories, as the cached content exposes sensitive information and potentially enables unauthorized access patterns. This flaw also maps to ATT&CK technique T1083 (File and Directory Discovery) and T1005 (Data from Local System) as attackers can leverage the cached content to gather information about system configurations and user data. Mitigation strategies should focus on implementing proper session invalidation mechanisms, disabling caching for sensitive dynamic pages, and ensuring that all user-specific content is rendered fresh for each authenticated request. Organizations should also consider implementing additional access controls and monitoring for unusual patterns of cached content access. The recommended remediation includes upgrading to supported versions of SAP Business Objects where the caching behavior has been corrected, implementing proper cache invalidation policies, and conducting thorough security testing to identify and address similar caching vulnerabilities across the platform's web application components.