CVE-2021-41391 in ECM
Summary
by MITRE • 09/18/2021
In Ericsson ECM before 18.0, it was observed that Security Management Endpoint in User Profile Management Section is vulnerable to stored XSS via a name, leading to session hijacking and full account takeover.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/22/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2021-41391 represents a critical stored cross-site scripting flaw within the Ericsson ECM platform version 18.0 and earlier. This security weakness resides within the Security Management Endpoint of the User Profile Management Section, where user input validation mechanisms fail to properly sanitize data before storage and subsequent retrieval. The vulnerability specifically affects the name field parameter, which when manipulated with malicious script code, persists in the system's database and executes whenever the affected user profile is accessed. This stored XSS vulnerability creates a persistent threat vector that can be exploited by attackers to inject malicious JavaScript code into the application's user interface.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability follows a well-established pattern that aligns with CWE-79 Cross-site Scripting flaws, where unvalidated input is directly rendered back to users without proper sanitization or encoding. The attack requires minimal prerequisites as the vulnerability exists in the user profile management component, making it accessible to authenticated users who can manipulate their own profile information. When an attacker successfully injects malicious JavaScript into the name field, the script executes within the context of other users' sessions who view the compromised profile, enabling the attacker to steal session cookies, hijack user sessions, and ultimately achieve complete account takeover. The persistence of the attack through storage means that the malicious code continues to execute until manually removed from the database.
The operational impact of CVE-2021-41391 extends beyond simple data theft to encompass full system compromise and unauthorized access to sensitive information. Session hijacking capabilities allow attackers to impersonate legitimate users and access restricted resources, potentially leading to data breaches, unauthorized transactions, and privilege escalation within the Ericsson ECM environment. The vulnerability undermines the integrity of the user authentication and authorization mechanisms, creating a persistent backdoor for attackers to maintain long-term access to compromised accounts. Organizations utilizing affected Ericsson ECM versions face significant risk of unauthorized access to their telecommunications infrastructure management systems, potentially affecting network operations, user data, and system availability.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should prioritize immediate patching of the affected Ericsson ECM platform to version 18.0 or later, which contains the necessary security fixes. Additionally, organizations should implement comprehensive input validation and output encoding mechanisms to prevent similar issues in other components of their systems. The implementation of Content Security Policy headers can provide additional protection against XSS attacks by restricting script execution within web applications. Security monitoring should be enhanced to detect unusual profile modifications and potential injection attempts. Network segmentation and privileged access controls should be reviewed to limit the potential impact of successful exploitation. Organizations should also conduct thorough security assessments of their Ericsson ECM deployments to identify and remediate similar vulnerabilities in other components, while maintaining regular vulnerability scanning and penetration testing to ensure ongoing security posture. This vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of proper input validation and output encoding practices in web application security, aligning with ATT&CK technique T1531 Lateral Tool Transfer and T1078 Valid Accounts to prevent unauthorized access through compromised user credentials.