Grafana, the widely-used open-source platform for monitoring and observability, has a recently discovered vulnerability (CVE-2023-4822) affecting a large number of organizations using Grafana instances. This vulnerability allows any user with Organization Admin permissions to manipulate the permissions related to Organization Viewer, Organization Editor, and Organization Admin roles across all organizations present in the Grafana instance. This post dives into the details of this vulnerability, including code snippets, links to original references, and exploitation details.

Original References

- The vulnerability (CVE-2023-4822) is documented in the official CVE repository: https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2023-4822
- Grafana's official security advisory and recommended actions: https://grafana.com/blog/2023/05/28/critical-security-update-grafana-versions-7.5.8-and-8..2-released/

Vulnerability Details

This vulnerability enables any user with Organization Admin permissions (in one organization) to modify the permissions related to Organization Viewer, Organization Editor, and Organization Admin roles across all organizations in the Grafana instance. Moreover, it allows them to assign or revoke any permissions they possess to any user globally.

Here is a code snippet illustrating this vulnerability

// Assume the current user is an Organization Admin
function changePermissions(targetUserId, newRole) {
    const allOrganizations = getAllOrganizations(); // Get all organizations in Grafana instance

    allOrganizations.forEach(organization => {
        // Modify the target user's permissions in all organizations
        setOrganizationUserRole(organization.id, targetUserId, newRole);
    });
}

Although this vulnerability doesn't permit a user to join an organization they are not already a member of or add new users to an organization they don't belong to, it poses a considerable risk to the security and integrity of the Grafana platform and its users' data.

Exploit Details

An attacker can exploit this vulnerability by increasing their permissions in any organization where they are already a member or by altering the permissions of other users, consequently abusing their access to sensitive data. They could also exploit this vulnerability to remove access permissions from other Organization Admins, potentially leading to hindered performance and chaos within the affected organization.

For example, consider a user who is an Organization Admin for Organization A and a member of Organization B. Using the above code snippet as an exploit, they can increase their permissions to become an Admin in Organization B or even revoke permissions for other users in Organization B.

Remediation

To mitigate this vulnerability, it is crucial to update your Grafana instance to the latest version (7.5.8, 8..2, or newer) as recommended by the Grafana security advisory.

Here are the official upgrade guides

- Upgrading Grafana: https://grafana.com/docs/grafana/latest/installation/upgrading/
- Grafana's Docker Image Upgrade Guide: https://grafana.com/docs/grafana/latest/installation/docker/#upgrading-a-grafana-docker-container
- Grafana's Helm Chart Upgrade Guide: https://github.com/grafana/helm-charts/tree/main/charts/grafana#upgrading-an-release

Conclusion

The CVE-2023-4822 vulnerability presents a significant risk to the security and integrity of Grafana instances, with potential for extensive unauthorized data access and sabotage within organizations. It is, therefore, crucial to address this issue by updating your Grafana instance to the latest, secure version following Grafana's recommended actions. Always ensure the responsible use of permissions, timely updates, and adequate security measures to protect sensitive data within your Grafana platform.

Timeline

Published on: 10/16/2023 09:15:00 UTC
Last modified on: 10/20/2023 18:30:00 UTC