CVE-2022-35808 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-2022-35781, 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-2022-35809, 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 • 09/04/2022
The Azure Site Recovery service represents a critical component in Microsoft's cloud disaster recovery infrastructure, providing automated backup and replication capabilities for virtual machines across on-premises and cloud environments. This service enables organizations to protect their workloads and maintain business continuity by creating replicated copies of virtual machines in target regions. The vulnerability described in CVE-2022-35808 specifically targets the privilege escalation mechanisms within this recovery service, creating a potential pathway for unauthorized users to gain elevated access rights. The issue stems from improper access control validation within the service's authentication and authorization framework, allowing attackers with limited privileges to escalate their permissions and gain administrative access to the recovery service components. This vulnerability is particularly concerning given the sensitive nature of disaster recovery systems, which often contain critical business data and system configurations that could be leveraged for further attacks within an organization's infrastructure. The flaw manifests when the service fails to properly validate user permissions during specific administrative operations, creating a gap in the security model that malicious actors can exploit.
The technical implementation of this elevation of privilege vulnerability involves a flaw in the Azure Site Recovery service's permission validation logic, specifically related to how the system handles user roles and access controls during replication and recovery operations. Attackers can leverage this weakness by crafting specific requests that bypass normal authorization checks, effectively allowing them to perform administrative actions without proper authentication. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-284, which addresses improper access control in software systems, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1078 for valid accounts and privilege escalation. The flaw typically occurs when the service processes requests for recovery operations, where it should verify that the requesting user has appropriate permissions for the specific action being performed. However, due to the implementation error, the system accepts requests from users with insufficient privileges, allowing them to execute operations that should be restricted to administrators or service accounts. This misconfiguration creates a scenario where an attacker with basic user access can escalate privileges to gain full administrative control over the Site Recovery service, potentially compromising all replicated virtual machines and associated recovery configurations.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends far beyond simple privilege escalation, as it can lead to complete compromise of an organization's disaster recovery infrastructure and potentially the entire cloud environment. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability can access all virtual machine replication settings, modify recovery policies, and potentially initiate unauthorized recovery operations that could disrupt business continuity plans or provide access to sensitive data. The implications are particularly severe for organizations that rely heavily on Azure Site Recovery for their backup and disaster recovery strategies, as this could result in data loss, service disruption, and unauthorized access to critical business systems. The vulnerability may also enable attackers to manipulate recovery point objectives and recovery time objectives, potentially causing extended downtime or data corruption. Furthermore, since Azure Site Recovery often integrates with other Microsoft cloud services and on-premises systems, the compromised access could facilitate lateral movement within the network, potentially leading to broader security breaches. Organizations may experience compliance violations and regulatory penalties if sensitive data becomes accessible through this vulnerability, as it undermines the integrity of their backup and recovery systems.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2022-35808 should focus on immediate patching and configuration hardening measures to prevent exploitation of the privilege escalation vulnerability. Microsoft has released security updates for this vulnerability that should be applied immediately to all affected Azure Site Recovery instances, with particular attention to ensuring that all service components are updated to the latest security patches. Organizations should implement network segmentation and access controls to limit exposure of the Site Recovery service to only authorized personnel and systems. Regular monitoring of authentication logs and access patterns should be implemented to detect potential exploitation attempts, with particular focus on unusual administrative operations or access from unexpected IP addresses. Security teams should conduct comprehensive audits of all Azure service configurations, ensuring that proper role-based access controls are implemented and that least privilege principles are enforced throughout the recovery service environment. Additionally, organizations should implement multi-factor authentication for all administrative accounts and consider implementing just-in-time access controls for critical infrastructure components. The remediation process should include validating that all recovery operations are properly logged and that audit trails are maintained to detect any unauthorized access attempts. Organizations should also review their disaster recovery plans to ensure that they account for potential compromise of the recovery infrastructure and maintain alternative recovery procedures that can be activated if the primary system becomes compromised. Regular security assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify and remediate similar vulnerabilities in other Azure services and components within the organization's cloud infrastructure.