CVE-2024-23792 in OTRS
Summary
by MITRE • 01/29/2024
When adding attachments to ticket comments, another user can add attachments as well impersonating the orginal user. The attack requires a logged-in other user to know the UUID. While the legitimate user completes the comment, the malicious user can add more files to the comment.
This issue affects OTRS: from 7.0.X through 7.0.48, from 8.0.X through 8.0.37, from 2023.X through 2023.1.1.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/21/2024
This vulnerability in OTRS represents a critical authorization bypass flaw that undermines the integrity of ticket comment attachments. The issue stems from insufficient validation of user identity during the attachment process, allowing unauthorized users to manipulate comment attachments even when they are not the original author. The vulnerability specifically manifests during the comment creation workflow where the system fails to properly verify that the user attempting to add attachments matches the user who initiated the comment. This creates a temporal window where malicious actors can exploit the system's lack of proper session validation and user authentication checks.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves a race condition scenario where a legitimate user begins composing a ticket comment while another authenticated user with knowledge of the comment's UUID can insert additional attachments. This occurs because the system relies on UUID-based identification for attachment operations without implementing proper access controls or user context verification. The flaw exists across multiple OTRS versions including 7.0.X through 7.0.48, 8.0.X through 8.0.37, and 2023.X through 2023.1.1, indicating a widespread issue within the platform's attachment handling mechanisms. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-285: Improper Authorization, which specifically addresses situations where systems fail to properly verify that an actor is authorized to perform a given action.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data integrity concerns, potentially enabling malicious actors to introduce harmful attachments, manipulate evidence, or obscure the true nature of ticket communications. Attackers can leverage this flaw to add malicious files, spam attachments, or create false evidence within ticket comments, making it difficult for support teams to maintain accurate records and investigate issues properly. This vulnerability particularly affects organizations that rely heavily on OTRS for customer support ticket management, where the integrity of comment attachments is crucial for maintaining audit trails and supporting resolution processes. The attack requires minimal prerequisites beyond having a valid login session and knowledge of the target UUID, making it relatively accessible to threat actors.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including enhanced session validation, proper user context verification during attachment operations, and implementation of UUID-based access controls that prevent unauthorized manipulation of comment attachments. The remediation strategy should focus on strengthening the authorization layer during comment attachment processes and ensuring that all attachment operations are properly tied to the original comment author's session and permissions. Security teams should also consider implementing additional logging and monitoring for attachment-related activities to detect potential exploitation attempts. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566: Phishing, as it could be exploited through social engineering to obtain UUIDs, and T1486: Data Encrypted for Impact, as malicious attachments could be used to disrupt support operations or compromise system integrity.