CVE-2019-18381 in Password Manager
Summary
by MITRE
Norton Password Manager, prior to 6.6.2.5, may be susceptible to a cross origin resource sharing (CORS) vulnerability, which is a type of issue that allows restricted resources on a web page to be requested from another domain outside the domain from which the first resource was served.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/06/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-18381 affects Norton Password Manager versions prior to 6.6.2.5 and represents a critical cross-origin resource sharing misconfiguration that fundamentally undermines web application security boundaries. This CORS vulnerability stems from improper implementation of the CORS policy within the password manager's web interface, creating a pathway for malicious actors to exploit the trust relationships between web applications and their associated domains. The flaw allows unauthorized domains to make requests to the affected application's resources, potentially enabling data exfiltration, authentication bypass attempts, and other malicious activities that leverage the application's legitimate access permissions.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability manifests through insufficient validation of the origin header in HTTP requests, which should normally be checked against a predefined whitelist of trusted domains. When the CORS mechanism fails to properly enforce these restrictions, it creates a scenario where any domain can send requests to the Norton Password Manager's endpoints, effectively bypassing the same-origin policy that browsers enforce to prevent unauthorized cross-domain access. This misconfiguration can be exploited through various attack vectors including malicious websites that embed the vulnerable password manager interface or through social engineering campaigns that trick users into visiting compromised sites while authenticated to the password manager. The vulnerability specifically impacts the web-based interface components of Norton Password Manager, making it particularly dangerous as it operates within the user's browser context where sensitive authentication data is processed.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data exposure, as it creates potential pathways for credential theft, session hijacking, and unauthorized access to users' password databases. Attackers could leverage this vulnerability to harvest stored credentials, manipulate password entries, or perform unauthorized actions within the password manager's administrative functions. The risk is amplified because password managers typically contain highly sensitive information including login credentials for multiple accounts, making them attractive targets for cybercriminals. This vulnerability falls under CWE-693, which specifically addresses protection mechanism failures related to cross-origin resource sharing, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566 which covers spearphishing attacks that can exploit such web application vulnerabilities to gain initial access or escalate privileges within compromised environments.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate patching of Norton Password Manager to version 6.6.2.5 or later, which contains the necessary CORS policy fixes. Organizations should also implement additional security measures including monitoring for unauthorized domain requests, implementing stricter Content Security Policy headers, and conducting regular security assessments of web applications to identify similar CORS misconfigurations. Network-level protections such as web application firewalls can provide additional defense-in-depth, while user education regarding suspicious website behavior and phishing awareness remains crucial in preventing exploitation of such vulnerabilities. The remediation process should include thorough testing of CORS configurations to ensure that only explicitly trusted domains can access sensitive resources, and that proper error handling prevents information leakage through CORS-related error messages that could reveal system internals to unauthorized parties.