CVE-2023-50349 in Sametime
Summary
by MITRE • 02/09/2024
Sametime is impacted by a Cross Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability. Some REST APIs in the Sametime Proxy application can allow an attacker to perform malicious actions on the application.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/18/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2023-50349 represents a critical Cross Site Request Forgery flaw within the Sametime Proxy application that exposes organizations to unauthorized administrative actions. This vulnerability falls under the CWE-352 category, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery weaknesses in web applications. The Sametime Proxy application serves as a critical communication infrastructure component that facilitates real-time messaging and collaboration services within enterprise environments, making this CSRF vulnerability particularly dangerous as it could enable attackers to manipulate the application's functionality without user knowledge or consent.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the absence of proper anti-CSRF mechanisms within the REST APIs of the Sametime Proxy application. When legitimate users interact with the application, their authenticated sessions are vulnerable to manipulation through maliciously crafted requests that exploit the trust relationship between the application and the user's browser. Attackers can leverage this weakness by tricking users into executing unintended actions through social engineering techniques such as phishing emails or compromised websites that contain malicious links or embedded scripts. The vulnerability specifically affects the REST API endpoints within the proxy application, which are designed to handle administrative and operational functions that require proper authentication and authorization controls.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data manipulation to potentially compromise the entire communication infrastructure of organizations relying on Sametime services. An attacker who successfully exploits this CSRF vulnerability could perform actions such as creating new user accounts, modifying existing user permissions, accessing confidential communication data, or disrupting service availability. This represents a significant risk to enterprise security posture as the Sametime platform typically handles sensitive business communications and collaboration data. The attack vector becomes particularly concerning when considering that the vulnerability affects REST APIs which are often used for programmatic access and integration with other enterprise systems, potentially creating cascading security implications across the organization's digital ecosystem.
Organizations should immediately implement mitigations including the deployment of anti-CSRF tokens within all REST API endpoints of the Sametime Proxy application, ensuring that each request includes unique, unpredictable tokens that validate the authenticity of the user's intent. The implementation should follow established security frameworks such as the OWASP CSRF Prevention Cheat Sheet, which recommends using synchronized tokens, custom headers, or Origin validation mechanisms. Additionally, organizations should conduct comprehensive security assessments of their Sametime environments to identify all potentially affected API endpoints and ensure proper session management controls are in place. Network-level protections including web application firewalls and access controls should also be reviewed and strengthened to prevent unauthorized access attempts. The vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566 which covers social engineering tactics, specifically focusing on the manipulation of user interactions to achieve unauthorized access to enterprise systems.