CVE-2023-5455 in ipa
Summary
by MITRE • 01/10/2024
A Cross-site request forgery vulnerability exists in ipa/session/login_password in all supported versions of IPA. This flaw allows an attacker to trick the user into submitting a request that could perform actions as the user, resulting in a loss of confidentiality and system integrity. During community penetration testing it was found that for certain HTTP end-points FreeIPA does not ensure CSRF protection. Due to implementation details one cannot use this flaw for reflection of a cookie representing already logged-in user. An attacker would always have to go through a new authentication attempt.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/21/2025
The Cross-site request forgery vulnerability identified as CVE-2023-5455 affects the FreeIPA identity management system, specifically within the ipa/session/login_password endpoint across all supported versions. This vulnerability represents a critical security flaw that undermines the system's ability to authenticate user requests properly. The flaw stems from insufficient CSRF protection mechanisms implemented in the authentication flow, creating an avenue for malicious actors to exploit the system's trust relationship with legitimate users. According to industry standards, this vulnerability maps directly to CWE-352, which defines Cross-Site Request Forgery as a weakness where the application fails to validate that requests originate from legitimate sources. The vulnerability exists within the authentication process itself, making it particularly dangerous as it can compromise user sessions and potentially lead to unauthorized access to sensitive identity management resources.
The technical implementation of this flaw allows attackers to construct malicious requests that appear to originate from authenticated users, thereby bypassing the normal authentication checks that should validate user identity before executing sensitive operations. While the vulnerability does not enable direct cookie reflection or session hijacking, it still provides attackers with a pathway to perform unauthorized actions through a new authentication attempt. This means that an attacker could trick a victim into submitting a forged request that would be processed by the IPA system as if it came from an authenticated user, potentially allowing unauthorized access to identity management functions. The attack vector typically involves social engineering techniques where users are诱导 to click on malicious links or visit compromised websites that automatically submit requests to the vulnerable IPA endpoint. The system's lack of proper CSRF token validation in the session login process creates an exploitable condition where the application cannot distinguish between legitimate and malicious requests originating from the same user.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple authentication bypass, as it can lead to significant confidentiality and integrity breaches within the identity management infrastructure. An attacker could potentially manipulate user accounts, modify access permissions, or perform other administrative functions that compromise the entire identity management ecosystem. The vulnerability particularly affects organizations that rely heavily on FreeIPA for user authentication and access control, as successful exploitation could allow unauthorized individuals to gain elevated privileges within the system. According to the ATT&CK framework, this vulnerability aligns with T1566, which covers social engineering techniques, and T1078, which addresses valid accounts for lateral movement. The attack chain typically involves initial user interaction with malicious content followed by automatic request submission to the IPA system, making it particularly challenging to detect and prevent without proper security controls in place.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including the deployment of proper CSRF token validation mechanisms across all authentication endpoints within the IPA system. The solution requires ensuring that each authentication request includes a unique, unpredictable token that is validated server-side before processing any sensitive operations. Security teams should also implement additional layers of protection such as SameSite cookie attributes, referer header validation, and proper session management controls to prevent unauthorized request execution. Regular security assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities in other endpoints within the identity management infrastructure. The vulnerability highlights the importance of comprehensive security testing that includes authentication flows and session management controls, as these are critical attack surfaces that require robust protection mechanisms. Organizations should also establish incident response procedures specifically designed to handle CSRF-related security incidents, ensuring rapid detection and remediation of similar vulnerabilities that may exist in other components of their identity management systems.