CVE-2023-3701 in Drive
Summary
by MITRE • 10/25/2023
Aqua Drive, in its 2.4 version, is vulnerable to a relative path traversal vulnerability. By exploiting this vulnerability, an authenticated non privileged user could access/modify stored resources of other users. It could also be possible to access and modify the source and configuration files of the cloud disk platform, affecting the integrity and availability of the entire platform.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/25/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2023-3701 affects Aqua Drive version 2.4 and represents a critical relative path traversal flaw that undermines the platform's access control mechanisms. This security weakness stems from inadequate input validation within the application's file handling routines, specifically when processing user-supplied paths that reference stored resources. The flaw allows authenticated users to manipulate file path references through crafted input that exploits the application's failure to properly sanitize or normalize file paths before processing. Such vulnerabilities typically arise from insufficient validation of user inputs in web applications and fall under the broader category of path traversal attacks that have been consistently documented in security frameworks and standards.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability enables a non-privileged authenticated user to bypass normal access controls and gain unauthorized access to resources belonging to other users within the same platform. This occurs because the application fails to properly validate or restrict file path references, allowing malicious users to navigate beyond the intended directory boundaries and access files outside their designated storage areas. The vulnerability specifically affects the cloud disk platform's integrity by potentially enabling modification of source code files, configuration files, and user data, which can lead to complete compromise of the platform's operational environment. This type of attack directly violates the principle of least privilege and demonstrates a fundamental flaw in the application's authorization and authentication mechanisms.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data access, as it can result in significant compromise of the entire cloud platform's availability and integrity. An attacker could potentially modify critical system files, configuration parameters, or source code components that would affect the platform's stability and security posture. The ability to access and modify configuration files particularly threatens the platform's availability since changes to core system parameters could render services inaccessible or cause system-wide failures. This vulnerability also creates potential for privilege escalation attacks where an attacker might gain deeper access to the underlying infrastructure or other platform components that are not directly exposed through the user interface. The risk is compounded by the fact that the vulnerability affects authenticated users, meaning that an attacker would only need valid credentials to exploit the flaw, which is often easier to obtain than bypassing authentication entirely.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on implementing proper input validation and sanitization mechanisms within the application's file handling components. The most effective approach involves implementing strict path validation that ensures all file paths are properly normalized and validated before processing, preventing any traversal characters from being interpreted as navigation commands. Organizations should implement proper access controls that enforce strict separation of user data and system resources, ensuring that each user's access is properly isolated. Additionally, implementing a secure coding framework that enforces proper file access controls and validates all user inputs against a whitelist of acceptable characters and patterns would significantly reduce the risk. This approach aligns with the principles outlined in the CWE-22 category for path traversal vulnerabilities and follows ATT&CK techniques related to privilege escalation and credential access. Regular security testing including automated vulnerability scanning and manual penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar weaknesses in other components of the platform. The remediation should also include implementing proper logging and monitoring of file access operations to detect potential exploitation attempts and maintain audit trails for forensic analysis.