CVE-2022-0540 in JIRA Server
Summary
by MITRE • 04/20/2022
A vulnerability in Jira Seraph allows a remote, unauthenticated attacker to bypass authentication by sending a specially crafted HTTP request. This affects Atlassian Jira Server and Data Center versions before 8.13.18, versions 8.14.0 and later before 8.20.6, and versions 8.21.0 and later before 8.22.0. This also affects Atlassian Jira Service Management Server and Data Center versions before 4.13.18, versions 4.14.0 and later before 4.20.6, and versions 4.21.0 and later before 4.22.0.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/24/2024
This vulnerability represents a critical authentication bypass flaw in Atlassian Jira's Seraph authentication framework that enables remote attackers to gain unauthorized access to systems without providing valid credentials. The issue stems from improper validation of authentication tokens within the HTTP request processing pipeline, specifically affecting multiple versions of both Jira Server/Data Center and Jira Service Management Server/Data Center products. The vulnerability allows attackers to craft malicious requests that circumvent the normal authentication flow, potentially granting full administrative access to sensitive data and system functionality.
The technical implementation of this flaw occurs within the Seraph authentication module where the system fails to properly validate the authenticity of incoming requests. Attackers can exploit this by sending specially crafted HTTP requests that manipulate the authentication token handling mechanism, effectively allowing them to bypass the standard login process entirely. This type of vulnerability falls under the CWE-287 category for improper authentication, specifically addressing weak authentication mechanisms that permit unauthorized access to protected resources. The flaw operates at the application layer and can be exploited through standard network protocols without requiring any prior authentication credentials or system compromise.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and far-reaching across organizations utilizing affected Jira installations. Successful exploitation could result in complete system compromise, data exfiltration, modification of critical business processes, and potential lateral movement within network environments. Attackers could access confidential project information, manipulate issue tracking data, modify user permissions, and potentially escalate privileges to administrative levels. This vulnerability particularly affects organizations that rely heavily on Jira for project management, issue tracking, and business process automation, making it a prime target for both automated exploitation and targeted attacks.
Organizations should immediately implement mitigation strategies including applying the vendor-provided patches to versions 8.13.18, 8.20.6, 8.22.0, 4.13.18, 4.20.6, and 4.22.0 as specified in the security advisory. Network segmentation and firewall rules should be implemented to restrict access to Jira services to trusted networks only, while monitoring should be enhanced to detect anomalous authentication patterns. Additionally, organizations should conduct thorough security assessments of their Jira installations to identify any potential exploitation attempts and implement multi-factor authentication where possible. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches and proper authentication controls in enterprise software environments, aligning with ATT&CK technique T1078 for valid accounts and T1566 for credential harvesting through application exploitation.