CVE-2019-19987 in Visual Access Manager
Summary
by MITRE
An issue was discovered in Selesta Visual Access Manager (VAM) 4.15.0 through 4.29. It allows Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) on any HTML form. An attacker can exploit the vulnerability to abuse functionalities such as change password, add user, add privilege, and so on.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/27/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-19987 represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw within Selesta Visual Access Manager version 4.15.0 through 4.29. This issue stems from the application's insufficient validation of HTTP requests, specifically failing to implement proper anti-CSRF mechanisms for HTML forms. The vulnerability exists at the web application layer where user requests are processed without adequate token verification or origin checking, making it susceptible to unauthorized operations.
The technical flaw manifests as the absence of anti-CSRF tokens in the application's HTML forms, combined with the lack of request origin validation. When users interact with the Visual Access Manager interface, the application does not enforce any mechanism to verify that requests originate from legitimate sources within the same domain. This allows attackers to craft malicious HTML pages or exploit existing vulnerabilities in web browsers to trick authenticated users into performing unintended actions. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it affects all HTML forms within the application, not just specific endpoints, providing attackers with broad attack surface.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and far-reaching for organizations using Selesta Visual Access Manager. Attackers can exploit this flaw to change user passwords, add new user accounts, assign privileges, and perform other administrative functions without proper authorization. This compromises the integrity and confidentiality of the entire system, potentially leading to complete system takeover. The vulnerability enables privilege escalation attacks and can result in persistent unauthorized access to sensitive data and system resources. Organizations may experience data breaches, unauthorized modifications, and complete loss of control over their access management infrastructure.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery weaknesses in web applications. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this represents a technique for privilege escalation and initial access through the exploitation of web application vulnerabilities. The attack vector falls under T1566.001 for credential access and T1078.004 for valid accounts, as attackers can leverage legitimate user sessions to perform unauthorized actions. The lack of proper CSRF protection in this application demonstrates a fundamental failure in implementing security controls that should be standard practice in web application development.
Mitigation strategies should include immediate implementation of anti-CSRF tokens for all HTML forms within the application. Organizations must ensure that each form submission includes a unique, unpredictable token that is validated server-side against the user's session. Additionally, implementing proper origin checking and referer header validation can provide additional layers of protection. The application should also enforce SameSite cookie attributes and utilize proper session management practices. Organizations should conduct comprehensive security assessments of all web applications to identify similar vulnerabilities and ensure that CSRF protection mechanisms are properly implemented across all user-facing interfaces. Regular security updates and patches should be applied promptly to address this and related vulnerabilities in the Selesta Visual Access Manager platform.