CVE-2024-6357 in ArcSight Intelligence
Summary
by MITRE • 08/06/2024
Insecure Direct Object Reference vulnerability identified in OpenText ArcSight Intelligence.
Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/30/2026
The Insecure Direct Object Reference vulnerability in OpenText ArcSight Intelligence represents a critical access control flaw that allows unauthorized users to bypass normal authentication mechanisms and directly access restricted resources within the system. This vulnerability falls under CWE-284 which specifically addresses improper access control, making it a fundamental weakness in the application's security architecture that can lead to severe data breaches and system compromise.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability occurs when the application uses user-supplied input directly to construct object references without proper validation or authorization checks. In ArcSight Intelligence, this manifests when the system accepts identifiers or parameters from external sources and uses them directly to access internal objects such as files, database records, or system resources. Attackers can manipulate these direct references to gain access to data they should not be authorized to view, including logs, reports, configuration files, or other sensitive information that belongs to different users or system components.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is substantial as it enables attackers to perform unauthorized data access and potentially escalate their privileges within the environment. Security researchers have identified that an attacker could exploit this weakness to read sensitive information from other users' accounts, access administrative functions, or retrieve confidential business intelligence that the system is designed to protect. The vulnerability particularly affects ArcSight Intelligence's user management and reporting functionalities where direct object references are commonly used to fetch specific data sets or reports.
This vulnerability aligns with several ATT&CK techniques including T1078 Valid Accounts for initial access and privilege escalation, as well as T1566 Phishing for credential theft that may be leveraged in conjunction with this weakness. The attack surface is particularly concerning because ArcSight Intelligence systems are often deployed in enterprise environments where they process sensitive security data from multiple sources, making the potential impact of unauthorized access significantly greater than typical applications.
Organizations should implement comprehensive mitigations including input validation and sanitization to prevent direct object references from being used without proper authorization checks. The system must enforce proper access control mechanisms that validate user permissions before allowing access to requested objects, utilizing indirect object references or lookup tables instead of direct user input for resource identification. Additionally, implementing proper session management, role-based access controls, and regular security testing including penetration testing specifically targeting object reference vulnerabilities should be prioritized to address this weakness effectively.
The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of following secure coding practices as outlined in OWASP Top Ten and NIST cybersecurity frameworks, where proper access control implementation is fundamental to preventing unauthorized system access. Regular security updates and patch management procedures should be implemented to ensure that known vulnerabilities like this one are addressed promptly. Organizations using ArcSight Intelligence or similar security information and event management systems must conduct thorough risk assessments to identify all potential direct object reference vulnerabilities within their environment and implement appropriate compensating controls until proper patches are deployed.
Security monitoring solutions should be configured to detect anomalous access patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts, including unusual data access requests or multiple failed access attempts targeting different object references. The implementation of automated security testing tools during development and deployment phases can help identify these vulnerabilities before they reach production environments. Additionally, comprehensive staff training on secure coding practices and awareness of common web application vulnerabilities should be maintained to reduce the risk of similar issues occurring in custom developed applications that may integrate with or extend ArcSight Intelligence functionality.