CVE-2020-9300 in Dispatch
Summary
by MITRE • 11/09/2020
The Access Control issues include allowing a regular user to view a restricted incident, user role escalation to admin, users adding themselves as a participant in a restricted incident, and users able to view restricted incidents via the search feature. If your install has followed the secure deployment guidelines the risk of this is lowered, as this may only be exploited by an authenticated user.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/04/2020
This vulnerability represents a critical access control weakness that undermines the fundamental security posture of affected systems. The issue manifests through multiple vectors that collectively allow authenticated users to bypass intended security restrictions and gain unauthorized access to sensitive information. The vulnerability specifically targets incident management systems where proper access controls should prevent regular users from viewing restricted incidents, escalating their privileges to administrative levels, or participating in confidential cases. These access control failures create a pathway for privilege escalation and information disclosure that can significantly compromise system integrity and data confidentiality. The vulnerability's impact extends beyond simple information exposure as it enables users to manipulate system behavior through legitimate interfaces, making detection and mitigation more challenging.
The technical flaw stems from inadequate authorization checks within the application's incident management functionality. When users interact with restricted incidents through standard interfaces, the system fails to properly validate user permissions before granting access to sensitive data or allowing privilege modifications. This weakness allows users to exploit the search feature to discover and access restricted incidents that should only be visible to authorized personnel. The vulnerability's exploitation requires only authentication, making it particularly dangerous as it can be leveraged by any authenticated user without requiring additional credentials or specialized attack tools. The system's failure to enforce proper access controls at multiple touchpoints demonstrates a fundamental breakdown in the security model that should prevent such unauthorized access patterns.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends far beyond immediate data exposure, creating potential for broader security breaches and compliance violations. Regular users who exploit these access control weaknesses can gain insights into sensitive incident data that may contain personal information, business intelligence, or other confidential materials. The privilege escalation capability allows attackers to assume administrative roles, potentially enabling them to modify system configurations, access additional restricted resources, or disable security controls. The ability to add oneself as a participant in restricted incidents creates opportunities for users to manipulate incident records, potentially altering investigation outcomes or creating false trails. These capabilities can severely compromise the integrity of incident response processes and undermine the trust placed in the system's security controls.
Organizations can mitigate this vulnerability through several remediation approaches that align with established security frameworks and best practices. The primary solution involves implementing robust access control mechanisms that enforce proper authorization checks at all system interfaces and API endpoints. This includes ensuring that search functionality properly filters results based on user permissions and that privilege escalation attempts are strictly validated against defined role-based access controls. Security teams should implement comprehensive audit logging to detect unauthorized access attempts and privilege modifications, enabling rapid incident response when such activities occur. The mitigation strategy should also include regular security testing and code reviews to identify similar access control weaknesses that may exist elsewhere in the system. Organizations should follow the principle of least privilege and ensure that all user interactions with sensitive data are properly validated against established security policies. Additionally, implementing proper input validation and access control enforcement mechanisms aligns with the security controls recommended by frameworks such as the CWE classification system and supports the defensive measures outlined in the MITRE ATT&CK framework for privilege escalation and defense evasion techniques.