CVE-2021-28248 in eHealth Performance Manager
Summary
by MITRE • 03/26/2021
CA eHealth Performance Manager through 6.3.2.12 is affected by Improper Restriction of Excessive Authentication Attempts. An attacker is able to perform an arbitrary number of /web/frames/ authentication attempts using different passwords, and eventually gain access to a targeted account, NOTE: This vulnerability only affects products that are no longer supported by the maintainer
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/04/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2021-28248 affects CA eHealth Performance Manager versions through 6.3.2.12 and represents a critical flaw in authentication security mechanisms. This issue falls under the category of improper restriction of excessive authentication attempts, which is classified as CWE-307. The vulnerability allows attackers to perform unlimited authentication attempts against user accounts through the /web/frames/ authentication endpoint, effectively bypassing normal rate-limiting and account lockout protections that should prevent brute force attacks. The flaw is particularly concerning because it enables credential stuffing and password guessing attacks without any effective countermeasures to limit the number of failed login attempts.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from the absence of proper authentication throttling mechanisms within the CA eHealth Performance Manager application. When users attempt to authenticate through the /web/frames/ endpoint, the system does not enforce any limits on the number of consecutive failed authentication attempts. This creates an environment where an attacker can systematically try multiple password combinations against a single user account without encountering any barriers to prevent automated attack vectors. The vulnerability is specifically tied to the web interface authentication mechanism and affects the application's ability to protect user credentials from unauthorized access through repetitive authentication attempts.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant, particularly for organizations that continue to use unsupported software versions. Attackers can leverage this flaw to gain unauthorized access to user accounts through brute force or credential stuffing attacks, potentially leading to full system compromise and data breaches. The vulnerability essentially renders the authentication system ineffective against automated attacks, as there are no mechanisms in place to detect or prevent excessive login attempts that would normally trigger account lockouts or temporary access restrictions. This creates a persistent security risk for organizations that have not migrated away from the vulnerable software versions, as the system remains vulnerable even when other security controls are properly implemented.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should prioritize immediate remediation through software updates or patches provided by CA Technologies, though the software is no longer supported by the vendor. The lack of vendor support means that no official security patches will be released for this specific vulnerability, making migration to supported software versions the primary mitigation strategy. Security teams should implement additional network-level protections such as firewall rules to restrict access to the vulnerable authentication endpoints, deploy intrusion detection systems to monitor for suspicious authentication patterns, and consider implementing additional authentication controls such as multi-factor authentication to reduce the risk of account compromise. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1110 which covers credential access through brute force and password guessing attacks, highlighting the need for comprehensive authentication security measures that go beyond simple password protection.