CVE-2024-41708 in ada_web_services
Summary
by MITRE • 09/25/2024
An issue was discovered in AdaCore ada_web_services 20.0 allows an attacker to escalate privileges and steal sessions via the Random_String() function in the src/core/aws-utils.adb module.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/06/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-41708 resides within AdaCore's ada_web_services framework version 20.0, specifically targeting the Random_String() function implementation in the src/core/aws-utils.adb module. This issue represents a critical security flaw that enables malicious actors to escalate privileges and compromise user sessions through improper random number generation mechanisms. The vulnerability stems from inadequate entropy sources and predictable random string generation that can be exploited by attackers to forge session tokens or bypass authentication mechanisms.
The technical flaw manifests in the Random_String() function's insufficient randomness properties, which directly correlates to CWE-330, indicating use of insufficiently random values. When the function generates random strings for session management or token creation, it fails to utilize cryptographically secure random number generators, creating predictable sequences that attackers can reverse engineer. This weakness allows adversaries to predict future random values, enabling session hijacking attacks where they can impersonate legitimate users and gain unauthorized access to protected resources.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple privilege escalation to encompass complete session compromise and potential data breaches. Attackers exploiting this flaw can steal active user sessions, gain access to sensitive information, perform unauthorized transactions, and maintain persistent access to affected systems. The vulnerability affects all applications utilizing the ada_web_services framework version 20.0 that rely on session management features, making it particularly dangerous in web applications where session tokens are critical for maintaining user authentication states. This represents a significant risk to organizations deploying AdaCore-based web services without proper mitigations.
Organizations should immediately implement mitigations including upgrading to patched versions of ada_web_services framework, implementing additional entropy sources for random number generation, and deploying monitoring solutions to detect suspicious session activity patterns. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this vulnerability under privilege escalation techniques and session management attacks, specifically mapping to T1078 for valid accounts and T1566 for credential harvesting. Security teams should conduct comprehensive audits of all applications using this framework, implement proper random number generation libraries, and establish incident response procedures to address potential exploitation attempts. Additionally, network segmentation and access controls should be reinforced to limit the potential damage from successful exploitation attempts.