CVE-2024-2449 in LoadMaster
Summary
by MITRE • 03/22/2024
A cross-site request forgery vulnerability has been identified in LoadMaster. It is possible for a malicious actor, who has prior knowledge of the IP or hostname of a specific LoadMaster, to direct an authenticated LoadMaster administrator to a third-party site. In such a scenario, the CSRF payload hosted on the malicious site would execute HTTP transactions on behalf of the LoadMaster administrator.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/13/2025
This cross-site request forgery vulnerability in LoadMaster represents a significant security risk that exploits the trust relationship between administrators and the load balancing appliance. The flaw allows attackers to manipulate authenticated sessions through carefully crafted malicious links or pages that trigger unauthorized actions within the LoadMaster administrative interface. The vulnerability specifically targets the administrative functionality of the device, potentially enabling attackers to perform critical operations without proper authorization.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the absence of proper validation mechanisms for administrative requests. When an authenticated LoadMaster administrator visits a malicious website, the attacker can embed hidden forms or javascript code that automatically submits requests to the LoadMaster's administrative API endpoints. These requests appear legitimate to the LoadMaster because they contain valid session tokens and authentication credentials, but they execute unintended operations on behalf of the administrator. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it requires minimal attacker knowledge beyond the target's IP address or hostname, making it relatively easy to exploit in targeted attacks.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple unauthorized access to include potential disruption of critical network services and compromise of the entire load balancing infrastructure. An attacker could modify load balancing rules, alter SSL configurations, disable security features, or even redirect traffic to malicious destinations. This could result in service degradation, data exfiltration, or complete compromise of the network infrastructure that LoadMaster protects. The attack vector is particularly concerning because it can be executed through social engineering techniques, making it difficult to detect and prevent through traditional network monitoring approaches.
Mitigation strategies should focus on implementing robust CSRF protection mechanisms including the use of anti-CSRF tokens for all administrative operations, enforcing strict referer header validation, and implementing proper session management controls. Organizations should also consider network segmentation to limit direct administrative access to LoadMaster devices and implement additional authentication layers such as multi-factor authentication. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-352 which specifically addresses cross-site request forgery flaws, and represents a technique commonly categorized under the ATT&CK framework's privilege escalation and persistence tactics. Regular security assessments and patch management processes are essential to prevent exploitation of this class of vulnerability, as the attack can be executed with minimal resources and technical expertise.