CVE-2022-4145 in OpenShift
Summary
by MITRE • 10/25/2023
A content spoofing flaw was found in OpenShift's OAuth endpoint. This flaw allows a remote, unauthenticated attacker to inject text into a webpage, enabling the obfuscation of a phishing operation.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/25/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2022-4145 represents a significant content spoofing flaw within Red Hat OpenShift's OAuth endpoint implementation. This security weakness resides in the authentication framework that governs user access to containerized applications and services within the OpenShift platform. The flaw specifically affects the handling of web content during the authentication process, creating an avenue for malicious actors to manipulate the user interface elements presented during login operations. The vulnerability manifests when the OAuth endpoint fails to properly sanitize or validate content that is dynamically injected into web pages, allowing attackers to introduce malicious text or markup that can alter the visual presentation of authentication interfaces.
The technical nature of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-79, which describes cross-site scripting flaws in web applications, and more specifically relates to content injection vulnerabilities that can be exploited to manipulate user interfaces. The flaw operates by leveraging the OAuth authentication flow to inject malicious content into the web response before it reaches the user's browser. This injection occurs at the point where the authentication service renders web pages, potentially allowing attackers to modify the text displayed to users, alter button labels, or redirect navigation paths. The unauthenticated nature of the attack means that no prior access credentials are required to exploit this vulnerability, making it particularly dangerous as it can be leveraged by anyone who can interact with the OpenShift OAuth endpoint.
The operational impact of CVE-2022-4145 extends beyond simple content manipulation, as it enables sophisticated phishing operations that can deceive users into believing they are interacting with legitimate authentication interfaces. Attackers can exploit this vulnerability to create convincing fake login pages that closely resemble the genuine OpenShift authentication interface, potentially capturing user credentials or other sensitive information. The obfuscation capabilities provided by this flaw allow malicious actors to hide their activities within legitimate-looking web content, making detection and prevention significantly more challenging. Organizations using OpenShift platforms may experience unauthorized access to their applications, data breaches, and potential compromise of the entire containerized environment if this vulnerability is successfully exploited.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2022-4145 should focus on implementing proper input validation and output encoding mechanisms within the OAuth endpoint implementation. Organizations should ensure that all content dynamically injected into web pages undergoes strict sanitization before presentation to users, following the principles outlined in the OWASP Top Ten security guidelines. The implementation of Content Security Policy (CSP) headers can help prevent unauthorized content injection by restricting the sources from which scripts and other resources can be loaded. Additionally, regular security assessments and penetration testing of authentication endpoints should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches and following the principle of least privilege in authentication service configurations. Organizations should monitor their OpenShift environments for any signs of exploitation and implement network segmentation to limit the potential impact of successful attacks. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this type of vulnerability under T1566, which covers phishing techniques, and T1071, which addresses application layer protocols, emphasizing the need for comprehensive security controls that address both the technical flaw and the broader attack patterns it enables.