CVE-2022-35781 in Azure Site Recovery VMWare to Azure
Summary
by MITRE • 08/10/2022
Azure Site Recovery Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability. This CVE ID is unique from CVE-2022-35774, CVE-2022-35775, CVE-2022-35780, CVE-2022-35782, CVE-2022-35783, CVE-2022-35784, CVE-2022-35785, CVE-2022-35786, CVE-2022-35787, CVE-2022-35788, CVE-2022-35789, CVE-2022-35790, CVE-2022-35791, CVE-2022-35799, CVE-2022-35800, CVE-2022-35801, CVE-2022-35802, CVE-2022-35807, CVE-2022-35808, CVE-2022-35809, CVE-2022-35810, CVE-2022-35811, CVE-2022-35812, CVE-2022-35813, CVE-2022-35814, CVE-2022-35815, CVE-2022-35816, CVE-2022-35817, CVE-2022-35818, CVE-2022-35819.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/29/2025
The Azure Site Recovery service represents a critical component within Microsoft's cloud infrastructure, designed to facilitate disaster recovery and business continuity operations for virtual machines across on-premises and cloud environments. This vulnerability specifically targets the privilege escalation mechanisms within the Azure Site Recovery service, creating a potential pathway for unauthorized users to gain elevated access rights beyond their intended permissions. The flaw exists within the service's authentication and authorization framework, where proper access controls fail to adequately validate user privileges during critical operations. Such vulnerabilities are particularly concerning in cloud environments where multiple tenants share infrastructure resources, as they could enable attackers to move laterally within the system and compromise additional resources.
The technical implementation of this elevation of privilege vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and inadequate privilege checking mechanisms within the Azure Site Recovery service components. Attackers can exploit this weakness by crafting specific requests that bypass normal access control checks, allowing them to perform operations typically restricted to administrators or privileged users. The vulnerability manifests when the service processes user requests without properly verifying that the requesting entity possesses sufficient privileges for the requested action. This flaw aligns with common weakness patterns identified in CWE-284, which addresses improper access control, and CWE-798, which covers use of hard-coded credentials. The vulnerability operates at the application layer where the service fails to enforce proper authorization checks, creating a direct path for privilege escalation attacks.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple access control breaches, as it can enable attackers to perform destructive operations within the Azure environment. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability could potentially access, modify, or delete critical recovery data, compromise backup systems, and gain access to sensitive information stored within the Site Recovery service. The implications are particularly severe for organizations relying on Azure Site Recovery for disaster recovery planning, as attackers could disrupt business continuity operations or gain access to systems that would otherwise remain protected. This vulnerability can be leveraged to establish persistent access within the cloud environment, enabling long-term reconnaissance and further exploitation attempts. According to ATT&CK framework, this vulnerability maps to T1078.004 for valid accounts and T1566 for credential harvesting, as it allows unauthorized access through legitimate service interfaces.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate attention from cloud administrators and security teams responsible for Azure environments. Microsoft has released patches and updates to address this specific flaw, which should be deployed as soon as possible across all affected Azure Site Recovery services. Organizations should implement additional monitoring and logging controls to detect anomalous access patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. Network segmentation and just-in-time access controls can help limit the potential impact if exploitation occurs. Regular security assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar privilege escalation vulnerabilities within the Azure infrastructure. The vulnerability highlights the importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches and implementing robust monitoring solutions. Security teams should also review and audit existing access control policies to ensure that least privilege principles are properly enforced. Organizations should consider implementing additional security controls such as Azure Active Directory conditional access policies and privilege access management solutions to provide layered defense against similar attacks. Regular training for administrators on secure configuration practices and threat awareness is essential to prevent exploitation of such vulnerabilities in the broader Azure ecosystem.