An incorrect authorization vulnerability in the WinBox authentication flow of MikroTik RouterOS allows a remote authenticated attacker with credentials for a low-privilege account permitted to use WinBox to obtain the authorization policy of a different existing account. The stage-one EC-SRP challenge and proof are verified using the attackers account, while the independently supplied stage-two username is used to install the target accounts privileges. By specifying a higher-privilege account such as admin, a low-privilege user can obtain a full administrative session without knowing the target accounts password and can use that session to increase the privileges of the attackers own account.
Weakness
The product performs an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action, but it does not correctly perform the check.
Potential Mitigations
- Divide the product into anonymous, normal, privileged, and administrative areas. Reduce the attack surface by carefully mapping roles with data and functionality. Use role-based access control (RBAC) [REF-229] to enforce the roles at the appropriate boundaries.
- Note that this approach may not protect against horizontal authorization, i.e., it will not protect a user from attacking others with the same role.
- Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
- For example, consider using authorization frameworks such as the JAAS Authorization Framework [REF-233] and the OWASP ESAPI Access Control feature [REF-45].
- For web applications, make sure that the access control mechanism is enforced correctly at the server side on every page. Users should not be able to access any unauthorized functionality or information by simply requesting direct access to that page.
- One way to do this is to ensure that all pages containing sensitive information are not cached, and that all such pages restrict access to requests that are accompanied by an active and authenticated session token associated with a user who has the required permissions to access that page.