CVE-2019-8917 in Orion NPM
Summary
by MITRE
SolarWinds Orion NPM before 12.4 suffers from a SYSTEM remote code execution vulnerability in the OrionModuleEngine service. This service establishes a NetTcpBinding endpoint that allows remote, unauthenticated clients to connect and call publicly exposed methods. The InvokeActionMethod method may be abused by an attacker to execute commands as the SYSTEM user.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/11/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-8917 represents a critical remote code execution flaw in SolarWinds Orion Network Performance Monitor (NPM) version 12.3 and earlier. This security weakness resides within the OrionModuleEngine service which operates with elevated privileges and establishes a NetTcpBinding endpoint accessible to remote unauthenticated clients. The service exposes publicly accessible methods that can be invoked without proper authentication, creating an attack surface that allows malicious actors to exploit the system remotely.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through the InvokeActionMethod function which serves as the primary attack vector. This method accepts commands from remote connections and executes them with the privileges of the SYSTEM user account, effectively granting attackers complete control over the affected system. The flaw stems from improper access control mechanisms within the OrionModuleEngine service, where the service fails to validate incoming connections or authenticate users before executing potentially dangerous operations. The NetTcpBinding endpoint specifically enables this vulnerability by providing a communication channel that accepts unauthenticated connections and processes method calls without adequate security checks.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and far-reaching within enterprise network monitoring environments. Attackers who successfully exploit this flaw can gain full SYSTEM-level access to servers running SolarWinds Orion NPM, allowing them to execute arbitrary code, install malware, modify system configurations, and potentially escalate privileges to gain access to other network resources. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it affects the OrionModuleEngine service which typically runs with high privileges and has access to network monitoring data and system resources. This makes the attack vector particularly attractive to threat actors seeking persistent access to enterprise networks, as the compromised system can serve as a foothold for lateral movement and data exfiltration.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-284 (Improper Access Control) and represents a classic example of insufficient authentication and authorization controls. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to techniques such as T1059 (Command and Scripting Interpreter) and T1078 (Valid Accounts) as attackers can leverage the SYSTEM privileges to execute commands and maintain persistent access. Organizations using SolarWinds Orion NPM should immediately apply the vendor-provided security patches and updates to remediate this vulnerability. Additional mitigations include network segmentation to restrict access to the affected service ports, implementing firewall rules to block unauthorized connections, and monitoring network traffic for suspicious activity related to the NetTcpBinding endpoint. Security teams should also conduct comprehensive network assessments to identify any potential compromise and implement continuous monitoring for unauthorized access attempts to the affected service.