CVE-2022-38660 in XPages
Summary
by MITRE • 11/05/2022
HCL XPages applications are susceptible to a Cross Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability. An unauthenticated attacker could exploit this vulnerability to perform actions in the application on behalf of the logged in user.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/05/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2022-38660 represents a critical Cross Site Request Forgery flaw within HCL XPages applications, a platform widely utilized for enterprise web application development. This CSRF vulnerability exists in the authentication and session management mechanisms of the XPages framework, creating a significant security risk for organizations relying on this technology stack. The flaw allows malicious actors to manipulate authenticated user sessions without requiring valid credentials, effectively bypassing traditional authentication controls that should protect against unauthorized actions.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient validation of request origins and lack of proper anti-CSRF token mechanisms within the XPages application framework. When users navigate to malicious websites or receive crafted requests through phishing campaigns, the vulnerable application fails to verify that requests originate from legitimate sources within the same domain. This weakness enables attackers to craft malicious requests that appear to come from trusted sources, exploiting the user's existing authenticated session to perform unauthorized operations. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it affects the core session management capabilities of the XPages platform, making it a fundamental weakness in the application's security architecture.
Operationally, this vulnerability presents severe implications for organizations using HCL XPages applications, as it allows unauthenticated attackers to execute actions with the privileges of authenticated users. Attackers could potentially perform sensitive operations such as modifying user accounts, accessing confidential data, changing application configurations, or executing administrative functions. The impact extends beyond individual user compromise to potentially affect entire organizational systems, especially when XPages applications handle critical business processes or contain sensitive enterprise data. The vulnerability's exploitation requires minimal skill and can be automated, making it particularly dangerous in environments where XPages applications process high-value transactions or store protected information.
Organizations should implement multiple layers of defense to mitigate this vulnerability, beginning with immediate deployment of anti-CSRF tokens throughout all XPages application forms and request handlers. The implementation should follow established security standards including CWE-352 for CSRF protection and align with ATT&CK framework techniques related to credential access and privilege escalation. Network-level protections such as Content Security Policy headers and proper session management controls should be enforced. Additionally, organizations must conduct comprehensive security assessments of their XPages applications to identify all potential attack vectors and ensure that all user-facing forms properly validate request origins. Regular security updates and patches from HCL should be implemented immediately upon availability, while application developers should adopt secure coding practices that enforce proper validation of all incoming requests and maintain consistent session management across all application components.