CWE-556: ASP.NET Misconfiguration: Use of Identity Impersonation
Learn about CWE-556 (ASP.NET Misconfiguration: Use of Identity Impersonation), its security impact, exploitation methods, and prevention guidelines.
What is ASP.NET Misconfiguration: Use of Identity Impersonation?
• Overview: ASP.NET Misconfiguration: Use of Identity Impersonation occurs when an ASP.NET application is configured to execute with the privileges of another user, which may unnecessarily escalate the application's privileges and increase security risks.
• Exploitation Methods:
- Attackers can exploit this vulnerability by gaining control over the impersonated user credentials and executing malicious actions with elevated privileges.
- Common attack patterns include manipulating configuration files or exploiting weak access controls to execute code with higher privileges than intended.
• Security Impact:
- Direct consequences of successful exploitation include unauthorized data access, privilege escalation, and the execution of arbitrary commands.
- Potential cascading effects include the compromise of sensitive information, unauthorized system modifications, and lateral movement within the network.
- Business impact may involve data breaches, loss of customer trust, legal ramifications, and financial losses due to service disruptions or data theft.
• Prevention Guidelines:
- Specific code-level fixes involve removing unnecessary impersonation settings from configuration files and ensuring that only minimal privileges are granted to applications.
- Security best practices include conducting regular audits of configuration settings, implementing principle of least privilege, and avoiding hardcoding credentials in applications.
- Recommended tools and frameworks include using secure coding practices, employing tools like static code analyzers to detect misconfigurations, and leveraging security features provided by the ASP.NET framework to enforce proper access controls.
Technical Details
Likelihood of Exploit: Not specified
Affected Languages: Not specified
Affected Technologies: Not specified