CVE-2019-11268 in Cloud Foundry UAA
Summary
by MITRE
Cloud Foundry UAA version prior to 73.3.0, contain endpoints that contains improper escaping. An authenticated malicious user with basic read privileges for one identity zone can extend those reading privileges to all other identity zones and obtain private information on users, clients, and groups in all other identity zones.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/26/2023
The Cloud Foundry User Account and Authentication (UAA) system represents a critical component in cloud infrastructure security, serving as the central authentication and authorization service for cloud foundry environments. This vulnerability affects UAA versions prior to 73.3.0 and stems from improper input escaping mechanisms within specific endpoints. The flaw exists in how the system processes user requests, particularly when handling identity zone access controls and privilege escalation scenarios. The vulnerability manifests through insufficient sanitization of user-supplied input data, creating potential pathways for unauthorized information disclosure and privilege escalation attacks.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves the exploitation of inadequate input validation and escaping mechanisms within UAA's identity zone management endpoints. When an authenticated user with basic read privileges attempts to access identity zone resources, the system fails to properly sanitize the input parameters used in cross-zone access requests. This improper escaping allows malicious actors to manipulate the system's access control mechanisms, effectively bypassing the intended isolation between different identity zones. The vulnerability specifically impacts the way UAA handles user permissions and resource access controls, enabling attackers to craft requests that traverse zone boundaries and access sensitive data from other identity zones. This represents a classic case of insufficient input sanitization that directly violates security principles of least privilege and proper access control enforcement.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple information disclosure, creating significant risks for cloud infrastructure security. An authenticated attacker with minimal privileges can leverage this flaw to gain unauthorized access to private user information, client credentials, and group membership details across all identity zones within the same UAA instance. This creates a substantial risk for organizations that rely on UAA for multi-tenant cloud environments where proper isolation between different customer or departmental zones is critical. The vulnerability essentially allows a compromised user account to serve as a stepping stone for broader reconnaissance and potential lateral movement within the cloud infrastructure, potentially leading to more severe security incidents including credential theft and unauthorized service access. Organizations using Cloud Foundry environments face significant exposure risk, particularly in multi-tenant deployments where proper zone isolation is paramount.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate patching of UAA systems to version 73.3.0 or later, which includes proper input escaping and validation mechanisms. Organizations should implement comprehensive monitoring of UAA access logs to detect anomalous access patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. The remediation process must include thorough testing of patched systems to ensure that access control mechanisms function correctly and that proper zone isolation is maintained. Security teams should also consider implementing additional access controls such as network segmentation and enhanced audit logging to provide defense-in-depth measures. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-79, which addresses improper neutralization of input during web page generation, and maps to ATT&CK technique T1078 for valid accounts and T1566 for credential harvesting, highlighting the multi-faceted nature of the threat. Organizations should also review their overall identity and access management policies to ensure that privilege levels are properly enforced and that the principle of least privilege is maintained across all identity zones.