A recent discovery has been made regarding a security vulnerability in J2EEFAST v2.7., a popular open-source management framework for Java web applications. This vulnerability has been assigned with the CVE-2024-35091 identifier and presents a major risk to the integrity and security of the affected systems. This post will provide a comprehensive analysis of this vulnerability, examining the code snippets and functionalities involved, links to original references, and details regarding possible exploits. We will also discuss potential solutions and workarounds to mitigate the impact of this vulnerability.

Background

J2EEFAST (Java 2 Enterprise Edition Fast) is a lightweight, high-performance framework designed for the rapid development and management of Java web applications. It is open-source, and the latest version at the time of writing is v2.7..

Vulnerability Details

The vulnerability in J2EEFAST v2.7. was discovered in the findPage() function of the SysTenantMapper.xml file which allows an attacker to perform SQL injection attacks. SQL injection is a technique where malicious SQL statements are inserted into an entry field for the purpose of exploiting a security vulnerability in an application's database layer.

This vulnerability is caused by a lack of proper input validation and the use of string concatenation for constructing SQL queries within the findPage() function:

<select id="findPage" parameterType="com.j2eefast.framework.sys.entity.SysTenantEntity" resultType="com.j2eefast.framework.sys.entity.SysTenantEntity">
    select * from t_sys_tenant where 1 = 1 and tenant_name like '%${tenantName}%'
</select>

The above code snippet illustrates the findPage() function, where the value of ${tenantName} is being directly concatenated into the SQL query string without proper input sanitization. This allows an attacker to execute arbitrary SQL queries by injecting malicious SQL code through the tenantName parameter.

Exploit Scenario

An attacker could leverage this vulnerability to access sensitive data or perform unauthorized actions on the affected system. For instance, they could inject the following SQL payload into the tenantName parameter:

' OR '1'='1

This would result in the following SQL query being executed against the application's database

SELECT * FROM t_sys_tenant WHERE 1 = 1 AND tenant_name LIKE '%' OR '1'='1 '%'

The injected SQL payload would cause the query to return all records in the t_sys_tenant table, potentially exposing sensitive information.

Additional information and the original source of discovery for this vulnerability can be found at

1. CVE-2024-35091 reference on NVD
2. J2EEFAST GitHub repository
3. Original source of discovery and report by the security researcher

Mitigation and Solution

To fix this vulnerability, it is essential to sanitize the input values passed to the SQL query in the findPage() function. One approach involves using prepared statements or other database-specific sanitization methods to ensure input values are properly escaped before constructing the SQL query string. This prevents the direct injection of malicious SQL code into the query.

In addition, developers are advised to always follow secure coding practices, such as ensuring proper input validation, output encoding, and adhering to the principle of least privilege when developing and managing applications. Regular security testing, including code reviews and penetration testing, should also be conducted to detect application vulnerabilities before they can be exploited by attackers.

Conclusion

This post provided a detailed analysis of the CVE-2024-35091 vulnerability in J2EEFAST v2.7., including code snippets, references, and an exploit scenario. By taking appropriate action to fix the vulnerability and following secure coding practices, developers can help protect their applications and users from this and other potential security risks.

Timeline

Published on: 05/23/2024 17:15:31 UTC
Last modified on: 08/16/2024 19:35:12 UTC