CVE-2019-10174 in Infinispan
Summary
by MITRE
A vulnerability was found in Infinispan such that the invokeAccessibly method from the public class ReflectionUtil allows any application class to invoke private methods in any class with Infinispan's privileges. The attacker can use reflection to introduce new, malicious behavior into the application.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/26/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-10174 represents a critical security flaw in the Infinispan caching system that fundamentally undermines the principle of encapsulation in Java applications. This vulnerability exists within the ReflectionUtil class, specifically in the invokeAccessibly method which was designed to provide controlled access to private methods for legitimate internal operations. However, the implementation contains a critical design flaw that allows any application class to invoke private methods in any class within the Infinispan context with the privileges of the Infinispan runtime itself. The flaw stems from insufficient access control mechanisms that fail to properly validate the calling context and origin of reflection requests. This creates an arbitrary code execution vector where malicious actors can leverage the reflection capabilities to bypass normal access controls and execute unauthorized operations within the application's security boundaries.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-284 Access Control Issues, specifically manifesting as improper access control in reflection-based method invocation. The flaw operates at the core of Java's reflection API where the invokeAccessibly method fails to enforce proper security boundaries between different code execution contexts. Attackers can exploit this by constructing malicious reflection calls that target private methods within Infinispan classes, effectively allowing them to execute arbitrary code with the elevated privileges of the Infinispan runtime. This creates a privilege escalation scenario where the attacker's code can operate at the same security level as the caching system itself, potentially enabling data exfiltration, system compromise, or further lateral movement within the application environment. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it leverages the legitimate reflection capabilities that Infinispan requires for its internal operations, making the attack vector difficult to detect through traditional security monitoring.
The operational impact of CVE-2019-10174 extends far beyond simple privilege escalation, creating a comprehensive attack surface that can be leveraged for various malicious activities. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability can manipulate Infinispan's internal state, modify cached data, access sensitive information, or even inject malicious code that persists across application restarts. The attack can be executed from any application context that has access to the Infinispan instance, making it particularly dangerous in web applications or microservices architectures where multiple components may interact with the caching system. The vulnerability is classified under the MITRE ATT&CK framework as a privilege escalation technique, specifically leveraging the "Reflection" tactic to bypass normal access controls and execute malicious code with elevated privileges. This allows for a wide range of attack scenarios including data manipulation, system compromise, and potential lateral movement within the network infrastructure. The impact is particularly severe in enterprise environments where Infinispan is commonly used for critical data caching and application performance optimization, as the compromise of such systems can lead to widespread service disruption and data breaches.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2019-10174 must address both the immediate security gap and implement broader defensive measures to prevent similar vulnerabilities. Organizations should immediately apply the vendor-provided patches and updates that correct the access control implementation in the ReflectionUtil class. The recommended approach involves implementing strict access control checks that validate the calling context and origin of reflection requests, ensuring that only trusted internal components can invoke private methods with elevated privileges. Security architects should consider implementing additional safeguards such as runtime code integrity checking, restricted reflection APIs, and comprehensive monitoring of reflection-based method invocations. The solution should align with security best practices outlined in the OWASP Secure Coding Guidelines, particularly focusing on preventing insecure reflection usage patterns. Organizations should also implement network segmentation and access controls to limit exposure of Infinispan instances to only necessary application components, reducing the attack surface for potential exploitation. Regular security audits and code reviews should specifically target reflection-based code patterns to identify and remediate similar access control vulnerabilities that may exist in other components of the application stack.