CVE-2020-13937 in Kylin
Summary
by MITRE • 10/20/2020
Apache Kylin 2.0.0, 2.1.0, 2.2.0, 2.3.0, 2.3.1, 2.3.2, 2.4.0, 2.4.1, 2.5.0, 2.5.1, 2.5.2, 2.6.0, 2.6.1, 2.6.2, 2.6.3, 2.6.4, 2.6.5, 2.6.6, 3.0.0-alpha, 3.0.0-alpha2, 3.0.0-beta, 3.0.0, 3.0.1, 3.0.2, 3.1.0, 4.0.0-alpha has one restful api which exposed Kylin's configuration information without any authentication, so it is dangerous because some confidential information entries will be disclosed to everyone.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/21/2020
Apache Kylin is an open source distributed analytics engine designed to provide SQL-like query interface and multi-dimensional analysis capabilities over Hadoop data sources. The vulnerability CVE-2020-13937 affects multiple versions of this analytics platform and represents a critical information disclosure flaw within the RESTful API implementation. This vulnerability stems from insufficient authentication mechanisms that allow unauthorized users to access sensitive configuration data through exposed API endpoints.
The technical flaw manifests in the RESTful API implementation where specific endpoints fail to enforce proper authentication checks before exposing internal Kylin configuration parameters. This misconfiguration enables any external party to retrieve confidential information including database connection strings, authentication credentials, encryption keys, and other sensitive system parameters through simple HTTP requests. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-200 as "Information Exposure" and represents a direct violation of the principle of least privilege in security design. The exposed configuration data can include database usernames, passwords, JDBC connection URLs, and other system-level parameters that could facilitate further exploitation attempts.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe as it provides attackers with comprehensive insights into the internal system architecture and configuration details. An attacker who discovers the exposed API endpoint can systematically gather sensitive information that may lead to privilege escalation, lateral movement within the network, or direct access to underlying data sources. This information disclosure can enable attackers to craft more sophisticated attacks targeting database systems, authentication mechanisms, and other interconnected services. The vulnerability affects all versions from 2.0.0 through 4.0.0-alpha, indicating a long-standing issue in the software's security implementation. According to ATT&CK framework, this vulnerability maps to T1083 (File and Directory Discovery) and T1552 (Unsecured Credentials) techniques, as it enables unauthorized access to system configuration files and credential storage mechanisms.
The recommended mitigations include immediate implementation of proper authentication mechanisms for all RESTful API endpoints, including mandatory authentication tokens or API keys for accessing configuration data. Organizations should also implement network-level access controls to restrict access to these endpoints, deploy web application firewalls to monitor and filter requests, and conduct regular security assessments to identify similar configuration flaws. Additionally, upgrading to patched versions of Apache Kylin where authentication has been properly enforced is critical. System administrators should also implement logging and monitoring for API access patterns to detect unauthorized attempts to access sensitive configuration information, ensuring compliance with security standards such as NIST SP 800-53 and ISO 27001 requirements for information security controls.