CVE-2024-23321 in RocketMQ
Summary
by MITRE • 07/22/2024
For RocketMQ versions 5.2.0 and below, under certain conditions, there is a risk of exposure of sensitive Information to an unauthorized actor even if RocketMQ is enabled with authentication and authorization functions.
An attacker, possessing regular user privileges or listed in the IP whitelist, could potentially acquire the administrator's account and password through specific interfaces. Such an action would grant them full control over RocketMQ, provided they have access to the broker IP address list.
To mitigate these security threats, it is strongly advised that users upgrade to version 5.3.0 or newer. Additionally, we recommend users to use RocketMQ ACL 2.0 instead of the original RocketMQ ACL when upgrading to version Apache RocketMQ 5.3.0.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/10/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-23321 represents a critical information disclosure flaw within Apache RocketMQ versions 5.2.0 and earlier, which undermines the security posture despite the presence of authentication and authorization mechanisms. This weakness stems from insufficient validation of access controls during specific API interactions, allowing authenticated users or those permitted through IP whitelisting to exploit logical flaws in the system's privilege management. The vulnerability specifically affects the administrative credential exposure process, where regular users or whitelisted entities can leverage designated interfaces to extract administrator account credentials, thereby compromising the entire messaging infrastructure.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability resides in the insufficient separation of privileges within RocketMQ's access control layer, creating a path for privilege escalation through legitimate system interfaces. This flaw operates under the principle of insufficient authorization checks as classified by CWE-284, where the system fails to properly verify that the requesting entity has appropriate permissions for the requested operation. The attack vector requires an initial foothold through either legitimate user credentials or IP whitelist membership, but once achieved, the attacker can utilize specific administrative endpoints to retrieve sensitive information. This represents a classic case of privilege escalation where the system's internal access control mechanisms are bypassed, allowing unauthorized access to administrative functions.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple credential theft, as it provides attackers with complete administrative control over RocketMQ broker instances. With access to administrator credentials, malicious actors can modify broker configurations, create or delete topics and queues, manipulate message routing, and potentially access or modify sensitive message content. The requirement for attackers to possess broker IP address information adds a network reconnaissance component to the attack chain, but once this information is obtained, the vulnerability becomes highly exploitable. This type of attack maps to the ATT&CK technique T1078.004 for Valid Accounts and T1566.002 for Phishing for Information, as it leverages legitimate access paths to escalate privileges and extract sensitive data.
Organizations utilizing affected RocketMQ versions face significant risk of system compromise, data breaches, and potential service disruption. The vulnerability's impact is particularly severe because it undermines the fundamental security assumptions of the system's access control model, effectively neutralizing the protection provided by authentication mechanisms. The recommended mitigation strategy involves upgrading to RocketMQ version 5.3.0 or later, which incorporates enhanced access control validation and improved privilege management. The upgrade path specifically recommends implementing RocketMQ ACL 2.0, which provides more granular access control capabilities and better separation of duties compared to the legacy ACL implementation. Additionally, system administrators should conduct thorough security audits of existing IP whitelists and user permissions, implement network segmentation to limit access to broker instances, and monitor for unusual authentication patterns or credential access attempts. The vulnerability serves as a reminder of the importance of proper privilege separation and the necessity of regularly updating security implementations to address emerging threats.