CVE-2019-14887 in WildFly
Summary
by MITRE
A flaw was found when an OpenSSL security provider is used with Wildfly, the 'enabled-protocols' value in the Wildfly configuration isn't honored. An attacker could target the traffic sent from Wildfly and downgrade the connection to a weaker version of TLS, potentially breaking the encryption. This could lead to a leak of the data being passed over the network. Wildfly version 7.2.0.GA, 7.2.3.GA and 7.2.5.CR2 are believed to be vulnerable.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/16/2024
This vulnerability represents a critical configuration oversight in the integration between OpenSSL security providers and the Wildfly application server. The flaw manifests when Wildfly's 'enabled-protocols' setting fails to properly enforce TLS protocol versions, creating an exploitable gap in cryptographic security implementation. The vulnerability specifically affects Wildfly versions 7.2.0.GA, 7.2.3.GA, and 7.2.5.CR2, where the security provider configuration does not adequately respect the intended TLS protocol restrictions. This misconfiguration allows for protocol downgrade attacks that can weaken cryptographic connections from the application server. The technical nature of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-327, which addresses the use of weak cryptographic algorithms and protocol versions, and represents a direct violation of the principle of least privilege in security configuration management.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple protocol downgrade attacks to encompass potential data interception and exfiltration scenarios. When an attacker successfully downgrades TLS connections to weaker protocol versions, they can exploit known vulnerabilities in older TLS implementations to decrypt sensitive data transmitted between Wildfly and its clients. This creates a significant risk for applications handling confidential information such as user credentials, personal data, or financial transactions. The vulnerability exposes the underlying cryptographic infrastructure to man-in-the-middle attacks where network traffic can be monitored and manipulated without proper encryption enforcement. From an attack perspective, this flaw follows the ATT&CK technique T1046 for network service scanning and T1566 for credential harvesting, as it provides attackers with opportunities to weaken encryption and subsequently capture sensitive information.
The root cause stems from improper configuration handling within Wildfly's security provider integration with OpenSSL, where the 'enabled-protocols' parameter becomes ineffective in enforcing TLS version restrictions. This configuration bypass allows attackers to establish connections using weaker TLS versions despite explicit server configuration to enforce stronger protocols. The vulnerability demonstrates a classic case of security misconfiguration where administrative settings fail to translate into effective cryptographic protection. Organizations using affected Wildfly versions face significant risk exposure, particularly in environments where sensitive data processing occurs. The flaw represents a failure in the security configuration management process, where proper validation of cryptographic settings does not occur during the integration of third-party security providers. This vulnerability underscores the importance of thorough security testing and validation of cryptographic configurations in enterprise application environments.
Mitigation strategies should focus on immediate version upgrades to patched Wildfly releases that properly enforce TLS protocol configurations. Organizations must implement comprehensive security audits to verify that all cryptographic settings are properly enforced and validated. Network segmentation and monitoring solutions should be deployed to detect unusual protocol negotiation patterns that might indicate downgrade attacks. Additionally, security teams should conduct regular configuration reviews to ensure that TLS protocol restrictions are properly implemented across all application server components. The vulnerability highlights the necessity of implementing automated security configuration validation tools that can verify cryptographic settings against security baselines and industry standards. Organizations should also consider implementing network-level protections such as TLS inspection and protocol enforcement mechanisms to prevent unauthorized protocol downgrades even if application-level protections fail.