CVE-2024-33500 in Mendix
Summary
by MITRE • 06/11/2024
A vulnerability has been identified in Mendix Applications using Mendix 10 (All versions = V9.3.0 < V9.24.22). Affected applications could allow users with the capability to manage a role to elevate the access rights of users with that role. Successful exploitation requires to guess the id of a target role which contains the elevated access rights.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/11/2024
This vulnerability represents a critical access control flaw in Mendix applications running version 10, specifically affecting deployments where the version ranges from 9.3.0 through 9.24.22. The issue stems from insufficient validation of role identifiers during privilege escalation operations, creating a scenario where authenticated users can manipulate access controls through predictable or guessable role identification mechanisms. This weakness fundamentally undermines the application's authorization framework and could enable unauthorized privilege elevation.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability manifests when administrators or users with role management capabilities attempt to modify access rights for specific roles within the application. The flaw occurs because the system does not adequately verify the legitimacy of role identifiers before permitting access right modifications, allowing attackers to exploit this gap by guessing valid role IDs that contain elevated permissions. This type of vulnerability aligns with CWE-284 Access Control flaws, specifically targeting improper access control mechanisms in role-based access control systems. The attack vector requires only knowledge of the application's role structure and basic enumeration techniques to identify valid role identifiers.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability presents a significant risk to organizations relying on Mendix applications for business-critical processes. Successful exploitation could allow attackers to grant themselves or other malicious users elevated privileges, potentially leading to complete system compromise or unauthorized data access. The requirement to guess role IDs does not significantly reduce the attack surface since role identifiers in many Mendix applications follow predictable patterns or can be enumerated through systematic testing approaches. This vulnerability directly maps to ATT&CK technique T1078 Valid Accounts, as it enables privilege escalation through legitimate but improperly controlled administrative functions.
Organizations should immediately implement mitigations including updating to Mendix 9.24.22 or later versions that contain the necessary security patches. Additionally, administrators should review and strengthen role management procedures, implement proper access control validation mechanisms, and conduct thorough audits of role assignments and permissions. Network segmentation and monitoring should be enhanced to detect unusual privilege escalation activities. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of proper input validation and access control implementation in enterprise application frameworks, particularly when dealing with administrative functions that can alter system security boundaries.