CVE-2023-50928 in sandbox-accounts-for-events
Summary
by MITRE • 12/22/2023
"Sandbox Accounts for Events" provides multiple, temporary AWS accounts to a number of authenticated users simultaneously via a browser-based GUI. Authenticated users could potentially claim and access empty AWS accounts by sending request payloads to the account API containing non-existent event ids and self-defined budget & duration. This issue only affects cleaned AWS accounts, it is not possible to access AWS accounts in use or existing data/infrastructure. This issue has been patched in version 1.1.0.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/18/2024
The vulnerability described in CVE-2023-50928 affects a system component known as "Sandbox Accounts for Events" which operates within AWS cloud infrastructure to provide temporary account access through a browser-based graphical user interface. This system is designed to create and manage multiple temporary AWS accounts for authenticated users who participate in specific events or scenarios. The implementation of this service involves an API endpoint that handles account creation requests through user-submitted payloads containing event identifiers, budget parameters, and duration specifications. The system's architecture relies on validating event identifiers to ensure that only legitimate events can trigger account provisioning, but this validation mechanism has a critical flaw that allows unauthorized access to resources.
The technical flaw in this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and access control mechanisms within the account provisioning API. When authenticated users submit requests to create sandbox accounts, the system accepts payloads containing non-existent event identifiers alongside custom budget and duration parameters. This design oversight allows malicious actors to exploit the system by crafting requests with invalid event IDs while still specifying valid account parameters, effectively bypassing the intended event-based access controls. The vulnerability specifically targets the account creation workflow where the system fails to properly verify that the event identifier corresponds to an actual, active event before provisioning a new AWS account. This weakness creates an attack surface where unauthorized users can potentially claim and access empty AWS accounts that should otherwise remain unavailable.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant within the context of cloud security and resource management. While the issue only affects cleaned AWS accounts that are not currently in use or contain existing data/infrastructure, the potential for unauthorized access to temporary cloud environments remains a serious concern. Attackers could exploit this vulnerability to gain temporary access to AWS resources that are typically isolated and restricted to specific legitimate users. This unauthorized access could potentially be used for reconnaissance, privilege escalation, or to establish persistent access points within the cloud environment. The vulnerability essentially creates a backdoor mechanism that allows unauthorized users to bypass the intended access control policies and obtain temporary cloud credentials that could be used for malicious activities.
The security implications of CVE-2023-50928 align with several cybersecurity frameworks and threat modeling approaches, particularly those addressing access control vulnerabilities and privilege escalation risks. This issue can be classified under CWE-284 (Improper Access Control) as it represents a failure in access control mechanisms that allows unauthorized users to access resources they should not be permitted to access. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to techniques related to privilege escalation and initial access through valid accounts, as attackers can potentially leverage the temporary accounts to gain access to additional resources or establish persistence within the cloud environment. The vulnerability also demonstrates characteristics of insecure direct object references, where the system fails to properly validate user access to objects within its resource management system.
The remediation for this vulnerability involved patching the system in version 1.1.0, which likely implemented proper input validation and access control checks to ensure that only legitimate event identifiers can trigger account provisioning. Effective mitigations should include comprehensive validation of event identifiers against a legitimate event registry, implementation of proper access control checks before account creation, and enforcement of least privilege principles for the account provisioning API. Organizations should also implement monitoring and logging mechanisms to detect unusual account provisioning patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. The fix should ensure that all requests to the account API are validated against an authenticated event registry before any account creation occurs, preventing the exploitation of the validation bypass that existed in the vulnerable version. Additionally, proper audit trails should be maintained to track all account provisioning requests and identify any unauthorized access attempts that may have occurred.