vtiger CRM <= 5.4.0 (SOAP Services) Authentication Bypass Vulnerability

• Software Link:

http://www.vtiger.com

• Affected Versions:

All versions from 5.1.0 to 5.4.0.

• Vulnerability Description:

The vulnerable code is located in the validateSession() function, which is defined in multiple SOAP services:

function validateSession($username, $sessionid)
{
    global $adb,$current_user;
    $adb->println("Inside function validateSession($username, $sessionid)");
    require_once("modules/Users/Users.php");
    $seed_user = new Users();
    $id = $seed_user->retrieve_user_id($username);
 
    $server_sessionid = getServerSessionId($id);
 
    $adb->println("Checking Server session id and customer input session id ==> $server_sessionid == $sessionid");
 
    if($server_sessionid == $sessionid)
    {
        $adb->println("Session id match. Authenticated to do the current operation.");
        return true;
    }
    else
    {
        $adb->println("Session id does not match. Not authenticated to do the current operation.");
        return false;
    }
}

The vulnerability exists because the “sessionid” parameter isn’t properly validated before being compared with the $server_sessionid variable, which is the value returned by the getServerSessionId() function. If called with an invalid session ID, then this function will return “null”, in this case the validateSession() function will return “true” if the “sessionid” parameter is set to 0, “false”, or “null”. An attacker can exploit this flaw to bypass the authentication mechanism, e.g. by calling a SOAP method without providing the “username” and “sessionid” parameters.

• Solution:

Apply the vendor patch: http://www.vtiger.com/blogs/?p=1467

• Disclosure Timeline:

[13/01/2013] – Vendor notified

[06/02/2013] – Vendor asked feedback about this changeset

[05/03/2013] – Feedback provided to the vendor

[26/03/2013] – Vendor patch released

[18/04/2013] – CVE number requested

[20/04/2013] – CVE number assigned

[01/08/2013] – Public disclosure

• CVE Reference:

The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2013-3215 to this vulnerability.

• Credits:

Vulnerability discovered by Egidio Romano.