CVE-2024-7265 in EZD RP
Summary
by MITRE • 08/07/2024
Incorrect User Management vulnerability in Naukowa i Akademicka Sieć Komputerowa - Państwowy Instytut Badawczy EZD RP allows logged-in user to change the password of any user, including root user, which could lead to privilege escalation. This issue affects EZD RP: from 15 before 15.84, from 16 before 16.15, from 17 before 17.2.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/24/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-7265 represents a critical user management flaw within the Naukowa i Akademicka Sieć Komputerowa - Państwowy Instytut Badawczy EZD RP software infrastructure. This issue stems from inadequate access controls and authentication mechanisms that permit any authenticated user to manipulate password credentials of arbitrary accounts within the system. The vulnerability specifically affects multiple version ranges including releases before 15.84, 16.15, and 17.2, indicating a widespread impact across the software's release history. The flaw fundamentally undermines the principle of least privilege by allowing unauthorized privilege escalation through simple password modification operations.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability demonstrates a classic authorization bypass weakness that falls under CWE-285 - Improper Authorization, where the system fails to properly verify whether an authenticated user has legitimate permissions to perform administrative actions on other user accounts. The system's user management interface appears to lack proper access control checks during password change operations, allowing any logged-in user to submit requests targeting arbitrary user identifiers including privileged accounts such as root. This represents a severe breakdown in the authentication and authorization framework where the system trusts user inputs without sufficient validation of the requesting user's privileges.
Operationally, this vulnerability creates a significant risk landscape for organizations relying on the EZD RP infrastructure, as it enables attackers who have gained initial access through legitimate means to escalate their privileges without requiring additional credentials or exploiting other system weaknesses. The ability to modify root user passwords provides attackers with complete system control, potentially leading to data breaches, system compromise, and unauthorized access to sensitive research data. The impact extends beyond immediate privilege escalation as it can facilitate persistent access and lateral movement within the network. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1078 - Valid Accounts, where attackers leverage legitimate credentials to maintain access and expand their operational capabilities.
Mitigation strategies should prioritize immediate patching of affected versions to address the underlying authorization flaw in the user management component. Organizations must implement comprehensive access control reviews to ensure that password modification functions properly validate user permissions and restrict operations to authorized personnel only. Network segmentation and monitoring of user management activities should be enhanced to detect suspicious password change patterns. Additionally, implementing multi-factor authentication and role-based access controls can provide additional defense layers against unauthorized privilege escalation attempts. The vulnerability underscores the importance of regular security assessments and proper code reviews to prevent such authorization bypass issues in critical infrastructure systems.