CVE-2020-10104 in Zammad
Summary
by MITRE
An issue was discovered in Zammad 3.0 through 3.2. After authentication, it transmits sensitive information to the user that may be compromised and used by an attacker to gain unauthorized access. Hashed passwords are returned to the user when visiting a certain URL.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/09/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2020-10104 affects Zammad versions 3.0 through 3.2, representing a critical security flaw in the authentication and session management mechanisms of this help desk software platform. This issue stems from improper handling of sensitive data within the application's response to authenticated user requests, creating a significant risk for organizations relying on Zammad for customer support and internal communications. The vulnerability specifically manifests when authenticated users access certain URLs within the application interface, exposing hashed password information in the response payload. This represents a serious deviation from secure application design principles where authentication credentials should never be transmitted in cleartext or unnecessarily exposed in application responses, particularly after successful authentication has occurred.
The technical flaw in CVE-2020-10104 constitutes a data exposure vulnerability that violates fundamental security practices for web applications and authentication systems. When users authenticate successfully to the Zammad platform, the application fails to properly sanitize its responses to specific URL requests, inadvertently returning hashed password values to the authenticated user. This behavior creates a potential attack vector where an attacker who has gained access to a legitimate user session could exploit this flaw to extract sensitive credential information. The vulnerability operates at the application layer and demonstrates poor input validation and output sanitization practices, as the system should never return sensitive information such as password hashes to user-facing endpoints. From a cybersecurity perspective, this issue directly relates to CWE-200, which describes information exposure vulnerabilities, and represents a clear violation of the principle of least privilege and secure coding practices.
The operational impact of CVE-2020-10104 extends beyond immediate credential exposure, potentially enabling attackers to escalate privileges and gain unauthorized access to sensitive organizational data within the Zammad environment. When hashed passwords are exposed through the application interface, attackers can leverage this information to conduct credential stuffing attacks, password reuse attempts, or combine this data with other reconnaissance efforts to compromise additional accounts. The vulnerability affects the integrity of the authentication system by undermining user trust and potentially exposing the entire help desk platform to unauthorized access. Organizations using Zammad versions 3.0 through 3.2 face significant risk of data breaches, insider threats, and unauthorized access to customer support tickets, user communications, and sensitive business information. The impact is particularly severe in environments where Zammad serves as a central communication platform for customer service, support tickets, and internal collaboration, as compromised credentials could provide attackers with persistent access to critical operational data.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2020-10104 should prioritize immediate patching of affected Zammad installations to version 3.3 or later, which contains the necessary security fixes for this vulnerability. Organizations should implement network segmentation and access controls to limit exposure of Zammad systems, particularly restricting access to authenticated endpoints that may trigger the vulnerability. Security monitoring should include detection of unusual access patterns to specific URL endpoints within the application, as well as monitoring for unauthorized credential exposure attempts. The implementation of secure coding practices and regular security testing should be enforced to prevent similar vulnerabilities from emerging in future application versions. Additionally, organizations should conduct comprehensive credential rotation for all users who may have been exposed to this vulnerability, particularly focusing on administrative accounts and users with elevated privileges. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to techniques involving credential access and privilege escalation, with potential for lateral movement within the network if attackers can leverage the exposed credential information to access additional systems or resources.