CVE-2022-36117 in Blue Prism
Summary
by MITRE • 08/26/2022
An issue was discovered in Blue Prism Enterprise 6.0 through 7.01. In a misconfigured environment that exposes the Blue Prism Application server, it is possible for an authenticated user to reverse engineer the Blue Prism software and circumvent access controls for an administrative function. If credential access is configured to be accessible by a machine or the runtime resource security group, using further reverse engineering, an attacker can spoof a known machine and request known encrypted credentials to decrypt later.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/02/2022
The vulnerability CVE-2022-36117 represents a critical access control bypass in Blue Prism Enterprise versions 6.0 through 7.01, exploiting misconfigurations in server exposure scenarios. This weakness allows authenticated users to perform reverse engineering operations against the Blue Prism software components, effectively undermining the intended security boundaries. The flaw specifically targets environments where the Blue Prism Application server is improperly exposed to unauthorized access, creating a pathway for privilege escalation and credential manipulation. The vulnerability stems from insufficient validation mechanisms that should normally prevent unauthorized access to administrative functions, particularly when the system architecture fails to properly enforce security boundaries between different user roles and system components.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves the exploitation of software reverse engineering capabilities that enable attackers to understand the internal workings of Blue Prism's authentication and authorization mechanisms. When the application server is misconfigured to expose administrative functions, authenticated users can leverage their existing credentials to perform operations that should typically require elevated privileges or specific administrative permissions. The flaw allows attackers to analyze and potentially replicate the software's behavior patterns, particularly around credential handling and machine identification processes. This reverse engineering capability creates a dangerous scenario where attackers can manipulate the system's trust model to gain unauthorized access to administrative functions that should remain protected from normal user access.
The operational impact of CVE-2022-36117 extends beyond simple privilege escalation to encompass full credential compromise and potential system infiltration. When credential access is configured to be accessible by machine or runtime resource security groups, attackers can exploit this misconfiguration to spoof legitimate machines within the Blue Prism environment. This spoofing capability allows malicious actors to request and potentially decrypt encrypted credentials that are normally protected, creating a persistent threat vector that can be leveraged for extended access periods. The vulnerability's severity is amplified by its potential to enable lateral movement within the Blue Prism ecosystem and subsequent access to connected systems that rely on the compromised credentials. Organizations using Blue Prism in production environments face significant risk of unauthorized access to sensitive business processes and data when this vulnerability is exploited.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2022-36117 require immediate implementation of proper network segmentation and access control measures to prevent unauthorized exposure of Blue Prism Application servers. Organizations must ensure that administrative functions are properly isolated from general user access points and that credential handling mechanisms are properly secured using industry-standard practices. The implementation of least privilege principles should be enforced to limit the scope of what authenticated users can access within the Blue Prism environment, while proper encryption and credential management protocols must be established to prevent the spoofing scenarios that this vulnerability enables. Security configurations should be reviewed regularly to ensure that runtime resource security groups and machine access controls are properly implemented according to security best practices and that all exposed services are properly secured against unauthorized access attempts. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-284, which addresses improper access control issues, and maps to ATT&CK technique T1078 for valid accounts and T1566 for credential access, highlighting the multi-faceted nature of the threat posed by this vulnerability.