CVE-2020-7780 in com.softwaremill.akka-http-session
Summary
by MITRE • 11/27/2020
This affects the package com.softwaremill.akka-http-session:core_2.13 before 0.5.11; the package com.softwaremill.akka-http-session:core_2.12 before 0.5.11; the package com.softwaremill.akka-http-session:core_2.11 before 0.5.11. For older versions, endpoints protected by randomTokenCsrfProtection could be bypassed with an empty X-XSRF-TOKEN header and an empty XSRF-TOKEN cookie.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/11/2020
The vulnerability described in CVE-2020-7780 represents a critical security flaw in the akka-http-session library, specifically affecting versions prior to 0.5.11 across multiple scala versions including 2.13, 2.12, and 2.11. This issue impacts web applications built using akka-http that implement cross-site request forgery protection mechanisms. The vulnerability stems from a flawed implementation of CSRF protection that relies on the presence of X-XSRF-TOKEN headers and XSRF-TOKEN cookies to validate requests. When these security tokens are either empty or missing, the protection mechanism fails to properly validate the authenticity of requests, creating a significant bypass opportunity for malicious actors. The affected library is commonly used in enterprise web applications and microservices architectures that leverage akka-http for building reactive web applications, making this vulnerability particularly concerning for organizations relying on this technology stack.
The technical flaw manifests in the randomTokenCsrfProtection function which is designed to prevent cross-site request forgery attacks by requiring clients to present valid CSRF tokens in their requests. However, the implementation contains a logical error where the system accepts empty values for both the X-XSRF-TOKEN header and the XSRF-TOKEN cookie, effectively disabling the protection mechanism. This occurs because the validation logic does not properly check for empty or null values, allowing attackers to craft requests that appear legitimate while bypassing the intended security controls. The vulnerability is categorized as a weakness in input validation and authentication mechanisms, aligning with CWE-347 which addresses improper validation of certificates and authentication tokens. Attackers can exploit this by sending requests with empty headers and cookies, thereby circumventing the CSRF protection that should have validated the request origin and user authenticity.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is substantial as it allows attackers to perform unauthorized actions on behalf of authenticated users without proper authentication or authorization. This could enable session hijacking, privilege escalation, or data manipulation attacks depending on the application's functionality. The vulnerability affects the core security model of the application, potentially allowing attackers to execute sensitive operations such as changing user passwords, transferring funds, or modifying critical application data. Organizations using affected versions of the akka-http-session library may experience unauthorized access to protected resources, leading to data breaches, service disruption, and potential compliance violations. The attack vector is particularly dangerous because it requires minimal effort from attackers and can be automated, making it a high-risk vulnerability for web applications that rely on CSRF protection for security.
Organizations should immediately upgrade to version 0.5.11 or later of the akka-http-session library to remediate this vulnerability. The upgrade process should be carefully planned to ensure compatibility with existing applications and avoid introducing regressions. Security teams should also conduct a comprehensive review of their applications to identify any custom implementations that might be vulnerable to similar issues. Additional mitigations include implementing additional validation layers, monitoring for unusual request patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts, and ensuring proper logging of authentication and authorization events. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566 which covers social engineering attacks including credential harvesting, and T1078 which addresses valid accounts for lateral movement. Organizations should also consider implementing additional security controls such as web application firewalls, request rate limiting, and comprehensive security testing to prevent similar issues in other components of their technology stack.