CVE-2019-18626 in Ormed Self Service
Summary
by MITRE
Harris Ormed Self Service before 2019.1.4 allows an authenticated user to view W-2 forms belonging to other users via an arbitrary empNo value to the ORMEDMIS/Data/PY/T4W2Service.svc/RetrieveW2EntriesForEmployee URI, thus exposing sensitive information including employee tax information, social security numbers, home addresses, and more.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/11/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-18626 represents a critical access control flaw within Harris Ormed Self Service software versions prior to 2019.1.4. This issue manifests as an insecure direct object reference vulnerability that allows authenticated users to bypass normal authorization checks and access sensitive employee tax documents. The flaw specifically exists in the PY/T4W2Service.svc web service endpoint which handles W-2 form retrieval operations. When an attacker provides an arbitrary empNo parameter value to the RetrieveW2EntriesForEmployee URI, the system fails to properly validate whether the requesting user has legitimate authorization to access the specified employee's tax information. This misconfiguration creates a path for privilege escalation where any authenticated user can potentially retrieve W-2 forms belonging to other employees within the organization.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and insufficient access control mechanisms within the web service layer. The system accepts direct user input for employee identification numbers without proper authorization verification, allowing attackers to enumerate employee records by simply modifying the empNo parameter value in the URI. This type of vulnerability is categorized under CWE-285, which addresses improper authorization issues in software systems. The flaw demonstrates a classic lack of proper object-level access control where the application does not verify that the authenticated user has the appropriate permissions to access the requested resource. The service endpoint essentially acts as a direct interface to the underlying database records, bypassing normal application-level security controls that should validate user privileges before returning sensitive information.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple information disclosure to encompass significant compliance and privacy risks. The exposed data includes highly sensitive personal information such as social security numbers, home addresses, and comprehensive tax details that would violate privacy regulations including gdpr, hipaa, and various local data protection laws. Organizations using Harris Ormed Self Service would face potential regulatory penalties, legal liability, and reputational damage from such a security breach. The vulnerability essentially transforms the employee self-service portal into an unauthorized data exfiltration mechanism where any authenticated user can systematically access other employees' confidential tax information. This creates a substantial risk for organizations that handle large volumes of employee personal data and could result in identity theft, financial fraud, and other malicious activities. The flaw also violates fundamental security principles outlined in the mitre attack framework, specifically targeting the privilege escalation and credential access phases where adversaries seek to gain access to additional systems or data beyond their initial scope.
Organizations should immediately implement mitigations including patching the software to version 2019.1.4 or later, which contains the necessary access control fixes. Additionally, administrators should review and implement proper input validation controls to prevent direct object reference manipulation. The system should enforce strict authorization checks at the application level before any sensitive data is returned, ensuring that users can only access their own records or those for which they have explicit authorization. Network segmentation and monitoring should be implemented to detect unusual patterns of data access attempts. Regular security assessments and code reviews should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities in other web services. Organizations must also consider implementing automated access control mechanisms and audit logging to track and prevent unauthorized access attempts to sensitive employee information, thereby reducing the risk of similar vulnerabilities being exploited in the future.