CVE-2024-37281 in Kibana
Summary
by MITRE • 07/31/2024
An issue was discovered in Kibana where a user with Viewer role could cause a Kibana instance to crash by sending a large number of maliciously crafted requests to a specific endpoint.
VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/01/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-37281 represents a significant denial of service weakness within the Kibana platform that allows unauthorized users to disrupt system operations through resource exhaustion attacks. This flaw specifically targets the request handling mechanism of Kibana instances and affects users who possess the Viewer role, which typically should only grant read-only access to data and visualizations. The vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and resource management within a particular endpoint that processes user requests, creating a pathway for malicious actors to exploit the system's processing capabilities.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability manifests when a user with Viewer privileges crafts and submits an excessive volume of specially designed requests to a designated Kibana endpoint. These malicious requests are structured in a way that triggers resource consumption patterns that overwhelm the system's processing capabilities, leading to application instability and eventual system crash. The flaw operates through a combination of request flooding and memory allocation patterns that cause the Kibana process to consume excessive computational resources, ultimately resulting in a complete service disruption. This behavior aligns with CWE-400 which categorizes resource exhaustion vulnerabilities as a critical class of weaknesses that can lead to denial of service conditions.
The operational impact of CVE-2024-37281 extends beyond simple service interruption, as it represents a privilege escalation vector that undermines the principle of least privilege within Kibana's access control model. While the Viewer role should only permit read operations, this vulnerability allows attackers to leverage their limited permissions to cause system-wide disruptions that affect all users of the platform. The attack surface is particularly concerning because it requires minimal privileges to execute, making it accessible to users who should theoretically have restricted access to system resources. Organizations relying on Kibana for log analysis, monitoring, and visualization may experience significant operational downtime, data accessibility issues, and potential business disruption during the attack window.
Security practitioners should recognize this vulnerability as a critical threat that requires immediate attention through both defensive and preventive measures. The recommended mitigation strategies include implementing rate limiting mechanisms at the network and application levels to restrict the number of requests that can be processed within a given timeframe. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing request validation controls that monitor for suspicious patterns and automatically block or quarantine potentially malicious requests. The implementation of proper input sanitization and resource allocation controls within the affected endpoint would address the root cause of the vulnerability. This remediation approach aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499 which emphasizes the importance of protecting against resource exhaustion attacks through proper access controls and rate limiting. Organizations should also implement comprehensive monitoring and alerting systems that can detect unusual request patterns and automatically trigger incident response procedures when such attacks are detected. Regular security assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities within the Kibana ecosystem and ensure that access controls remain properly enforced across all user roles and permissions.