CVE-2019-20150 in TreasuryXpress
Summary
by MITRE
In TreasuryXpress 19191105, a logged-in user can discover saved credentials, even though the UI hides them. Using functionality within the application and a malicious host, it is possible to force the application to expose saved SSH/SFTP credentials. This can be done by using the application's editor to change the expected SFTP Host IP to a malicious host, and then using the Check Connectivity option. The application then sends these saved credentials to the malicious host.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/21/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-20150 represents a critical security flaw in TreasuryXpress version 19191105 that undermines the application's credential protection mechanisms. This issue manifests as a failure in the application's user interface design where saved credentials are visually obscured during normal operation, yet the underlying system architecture does not properly enforce access controls or credential sanitization during network connectivity verification processes. The vulnerability stems from the application's improper handling of credential transmission when validating SFTP connections, creating an attack vector that bypasses the intended security controls designed to protect sensitive authentication information.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through a specific sequence of user actions that leverage the application's legitimate connectivity checking functionality. When a user attempts to verify SFTP connectivity, the application's editor component accepts arbitrary host IP addresses and subsequently transmits stored SSH/SFTP credentials to the specified destination without proper validation or sanitization of the target host. This behavior violates fundamental security principles by failing to implement proper input validation and credential isolation mechanisms. The flaw can be exploited by malicious actors who configure a malicious host address within the application's SFTP configuration interface, then trigger the connectivity check process to force credential disclosure to the attacker-controlled endpoint.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple credential theft to potentially enable broader lateral movement and persistent access within network environments. Once credentials are exposed to a malicious host, attackers can leverage these authentication details to access additional systems, escalate privileges, or maintain unauthorized access to sensitive financial data. This vulnerability directly relates to CWE-522, which addresses insufficiently protected credentials, and CWE-312, which covers cleartext storage or transmission of sensitive information. The attack pattern aligns with ATT&CK technique T1078.004, which covers valid accounts with the specific focus on credential access through application-level exploitation.
Security mitigations for this vulnerability should focus on implementing proper credential sanitization during network connectivity validation processes, enforcing strict input validation for host addresses, and ensuring that credential transmission occurs only to verified and trusted endpoints. Organizations should implement network segmentation to prevent lateral movement from compromised applications, deploy monitoring solutions to detect anomalous credential transmission patterns, and ensure that all authentication information is properly encrypted both at rest and in transit. Additionally, application developers should implement proper access controls and credential isolation mechanisms that prevent the automatic transmission of saved credentials to arbitrary network destinations without explicit user confirmation and proper authentication verification.