CVE-2019-4633 in Security Secret Server
Summary
by MITRE
IBM Security Secret Server 10.7 could allow an attacker to obtain sensitive information due to an overly permissive CORS policy. IBM X-Force ID: 170007.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/27/2024
IBM Security Secret Server version 10.7 contains a critical security vulnerability that arises from an overly permissive cross-origin resource sharing cors policy implementation. This flaw enables malicious actors to exploit the system's web application interface by crafting cross-origin requests that bypass normal security restrictions. The vulnerability stems from the application's failure to properly validate and restrict cross-origin requests, allowing unauthorized domains to access sensitive resources and data through the web interface. The affected system operates under the assumption that legitimate requests come from trusted origins, but the misconfigured cors headers permit requests from any domain, creating an attack surface that can be exploited by remote adversaries.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves the application's cors policy configuration where the Access-Control-Allow-Origin header is set to accept requests from any origin rather than being restricted to specific trusted domains. This misconfiguration allows attackers to leverage the cors mechanism to access sensitive data that should normally be protected by the application's authentication and authorization layers. The vulnerability specifically affects the web application's ability to enforce proper origin-based access controls, enabling attackers to make authenticated requests to the secret server's api endpoints from malicious domains. This flaw represents a classic example of insufficient access control where the cors policy configuration fails to properly validate the requesting origin, allowing unauthorized access to sensitive information.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe as it provides attackers with the ability to extract sensitive information from the secret server without proper authentication or authorization. An attacker could potentially access stored secrets, credentials, and other confidential data that the system is designed to protect. The vulnerability can be exploited through various attack vectors including social engineering campaigns that direct users to malicious websites or through direct exploitation of the cors misconfiguration. The attack surface extends beyond simple data theft to include potential privilege escalation and lateral movement within the network environment where the secret server operates. This vulnerability directly impacts the confidentiality and integrity of the information stored within the system and can lead to significant security breaches when combined with other exploitation techniques.
Organizations using IBM Security Secret Server 10.7 should immediately implement mitigations to address this vulnerability by configuring the cors policy to restrict the Access-Control-Allow-Origin header to only trusted domains. The recommended approach involves implementing strict origin validation and ensuring that the cors headers are properly configured to prevent unauthorized cross-origin requests. Security teams should also consider implementing additional monitoring and logging mechanisms to detect suspicious cross-origin requests that may indicate exploitation attempts. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-346 known as "Origin Validation Error" and can be categorized under ATT&CK technique T1566 for credential access and T1071 for application layer protocol usage. Organizations should also verify that their web application firewalls and security monitoring systems are configured to detect and block suspicious cors header configurations that could indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability highlights the critical importance of proper web application security configuration and demonstrates how seemingly minor misconfigurations can lead to significant security risks in enterprise security systems.