CVE-2021-36029 in Magento Commerce
Summary
by MITRE • 09/01/2021
Magento Commerce versions 2.4.2 (and earlier), 2.4.2-p1 (and earlier) and 2.3.7 (and earlier) are affected by an improper improper authorization vulnerability. An attacker with admin privileges could leverage this vulnerability to achieve remote code execution.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/04/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2021-36029 represents a critical authorization flaw within Magento Commerce platforms that has significant implications for system security and integrity. This vulnerability affects multiple versions of the Magento e-commerce platform including 2.4.2 and earlier, 2.4.2-p1 and earlier, and 2.3.7 and earlier releases. The flaw stems from inadequate access control mechanisms that allow authenticated administrative users to escalate their privileges and execute arbitrary code remotely. This type of vulnerability falls under the CWE-285 category of improper authorization, which specifically addresses issues where systems fail to properly verify that actors have appropriate access rights to perform requested operations. The vulnerability's classification aligns with ATT&CK technique T1078 which covers valid accounts and privilege escalation, as it exploits existing administrative access to achieve further system compromise.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability exploits the improper authorization controls within Magento's administrative interface, allowing an attacker who has already obtained administrative credentials to bypass additional security checks that should prevent arbitrary code execution. The flaw likely exists in how the platform validates administrative actions or processes requests that should require additional authentication or authorization steps. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability to execute malicious code on the affected Magento servers, potentially leading to complete system compromise, data theft, or service disruption. The impact is particularly severe because the vulnerability requires only existing administrative access rather than additional attack vectors, making it especially dangerous in environments where administrative credentials may be compromised through other means such as credential stuffing attacks or phishing campaigns.
The operational consequences of this vulnerability extend beyond immediate code execution capabilities to encompass broader security implications for Magento deployments. Organizations running affected versions face potential data breaches, unauthorized access to customer information, and possible use of compromised systems for further attacks against their network infrastructure. The vulnerability's exploitation could enable attackers to install backdoors, modify system configurations, or exfiltrate sensitive data from the e-commerce platform. Security teams must consider the implications of this flaw when assessing their overall security posture, as it represents a pathway for attackers to escalate privileges and maintain persistent access to compromised systems. This vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of proper access control implementation and the potential damage that can result from insufficient authorization checks.
Organizations should immediately implement mitigation strategies to address this vulnerability including upgrading to patched versions of Magento Commerce that resolve the authorization flaw. The recommended approach involves applying the official security patches released by Magento to ensure proper authorization controls are restored. Additionally, organizations should conduct comprehensive security assessments to identify any potential exploitation attempts or unauthorized access that may have occurred before patching. Network monitoring should be enhanced to detect suspicious administrative activities or unusual code execution patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. Security teams should also review and strengthen their administrative access controls, implement additional monitoring for privileged account activities, and consider implementing network segmentation to limit the potential impact of successful exploitation. The vulnerability underscores the importance of maintaining current security patches and the need for continuous security monitoring to detect and respond to potential exploitation attempts.