CVE-2020-15775 in Gradle
Summary
by MITRE
An issue was discovered in Gradle Enterprise 2017.1 - 2020.2.4. Unrestricted access to a high-level system-usage summary allows an attacker to obtain project names and usage metrics.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/18/2020
This vulnerability exists within Gradle Enterprise versions ranging from 2017.1 through 2020.2.4, representing a critical access control flaw that exposes sensitive system information to unauthorized parties. The vulnerability stems from insufficient authorization checks on high-level system-usage summary endpoints, allowing attackers to gain access to project names and usage metrics without proper authentication or privilege validation. This represents a significant security weakness in the platform's information disclosure controls.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves the absence of proper access control mechanisms when serving system-usage summary data. Attackers can exploit this by directly accessing specific API endpoints that provide aggregated project information and usage statistics. The flaw operates at the application layer, specifically within the web application's authentication and authorization framework, where the system fails to validate user privileges before serving sensitive data. This type of vulnerability aligns with CWE-285, which addresses insufficient authorization issues in software systems.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is substantial, as it enables attackers to gather intelligence about the organization's build infrastructure and project landscape. An attacker who gains access to these metrics can identify active projects, understand build patterns, and potentially map the organization's software development ecosystem. This information could be leveraged for further attacks, including targeting specific projects with known build configurations or identifying potential vulnerabilities in particular software components. The exposure of project names and usage metrics also violates principles of least privilege and data classification policies.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should immediately upgrade to Gradle Enterprise version 2020.2.5 or later, which includes the necessary access control fixes. Additionally, administrators should review existing access controls and implement network-level restrictions to limit access to the affected endpoints. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper access control implementation and the need for regular security assessments of enterprise software platforms. This issue also highlights the relevance of ATT&CK technique T1083, which covers discovery of system information, as attackers could use this information to plan more sophisticated attacks against the build infrastructure.
Security teams should implement monitoring for unauthorized access attempts to system-usage summary endpoints and establish proper logging of access patterns to detect potential exploitation attempts. The vulnerability underscores the critical need for comprehensive security testing of enterprise platforms, particularly in areas related to information disclosure and access control mechanisms. Organizations should also consider implementing additional security controls such as rate limiting and IP whitelisting for sensitive administrative endpoints to further reduce the attack surface.