A flaw was identified in the Account REST API of Keycloak that allows a user authenticated at a lower security level to perform sensitive actions intended only for higher-assurance sessions. Specifically, an attacker who has already obtained a victim’s password can delete the victim’s registered MFA/OTP credential without first proving possession of that factor. The attacker can then register their own MFA device, effectively taking full control of the account. This weakness undermines the intended protection provided by multi-factor authentication.
Weakness
The product does not restrict or incorrectly restricts access to a resource from an unauthorized actor.
Extended Description
Access control involves the use of several protection mechanisms such as:
When any mechanism is not applied or otherwise fails, attackers can compromise the security of the product by gaining privileges, reading sensitive information, executing commands, evading detection, etc. There are two distinct behaviors that can introduce access control weaknesses:
Potential Mitigations
- Compartmentalize the system to have “safe” areas where trust boundaries can be unambiguously drawn. Do not allow sensitive data to go outside of the trust boundary and always be careful when interfacing with a compartment outside of the safe area.
- Ensure that appropriate compartmentalization is built into the system design, and the compartmentalization allows for and reinforces privilege separation functionality. Architects and designers should rely on the principle of least privilege to decide the appropriate time to use privileges and the time to drop privileges.
Related Attack Patterns
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