CVE-2024-6540 in OTRS
Summary
by MITRE • 07/15/2024
Improper filtering of fields when using the export function in the ticket overview of the external interface could allow an authorized user to download a list of tickets containing information about tickets of other customers. The problem only occurs if the TicketSearchLegacyEngine has been disabled by the administrator. This issue affects OTRS: 8.0.X, 2023.X, from 2024.X through 2024.4.x
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/15/2024
The vulnerability described in CVE-2024-6540 represents a critical access control flaw within the OTRS ticketing system that undermines the security boundaries between customer data. This issue manifests specifically within the external interface's ticket overview export functionality, where insufficient field filtering mechanisms fail to properly isolate customer-specific data. The vulnerability's exploitation requires a specific administrative configuration where the TicketSearchLegacyEngine has been disabled, indicating that the flaw is not automatically present but rather emerges from a particular system state that administrators may implement for performance or compatibility reasons.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability stems from improper input validation and access control implementation within the export function's data processing pipeline. When users attempt to export ticket lists through the external interface, the system fails to adequately filter or sanitize the fields that are included in the exported data set. This flaw allows an authenticated user to inadvertently access and download information about tickets belonging to other customers within the same system, effectively creating a data leakage scenario that violates fundamental principles of information security and data isolation. The vulnerability specifically targets the ticket overview functionality and only manifests when the legacy search engine has been disabled, suggesting that the modern search implementation contains different security controls that may not properly address this particular export scenario.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data exposure, as it represents a significant breach in the system's customer data protection mechanisms. Authorized users who exploit this vulnerability can gain unauthorized access to sensitive customer information, potentially including personal data, business details, and confidential communications that should remain isolated within their respective customer contexts. This type of information disclosure could lead to serious consequences including customer privacy violations, regulatory compliance breaches, and potential legal ramifications under data protection laws such as gdpr and ccpa. The vulnerability's specific dependency on the TicketSearchLegacyEngine being disabled creates a complex attack scenario where an attacker must first identify the system configuration and then leverage the export functionality to extract unauthorized data.
Security professionals should recognize this vulnerability as a classic example of insufficient access control and data filtering, which aligns with common weakness enumerations such as CWE-200 Information Exposure and CWE-284 Improper Access Control. The issue also maps to ATT&CK techniques involving credential access and data exposure, particularly under the T1078 Valid Accounts and T1021.002 Remote Services categories. Organizations using affected OTRS versions should prioritize immediate remediation through patch updates, configuration reviews to ensure proper access controls are maintained, and thorough testing of export functionality to verify that customer data isolation is properly enforced. The vulnerability underscores the importance of maintaining proper security boundaries even in systems where legacy components have been deprecated, as the removal of certain features can inadvertently create new attack vectors that were previously mitigated by the presence of those components.