CWE-612: Improper Authorization of Index Containing Sensitive Information

What is Improper Authorization of Index Containing Sensitive Information?

• Overview: This vulnerability occurs when a product creates a search index for sensitive or private documents without properly restricting access to that index, allowing unauthorized users to potentially view information they should not have access to.

• Exploitation Methods:

• Attackers can exploit this vulnerability by performing targeted searches on the index to extract sensitive information, even if they don't have access to the original documents.
• Common attack patterns include conducting searches that reveal document snippets, exploiting misconfigurations in search engines, and accessing metadata or surrounding text not intended for public viewing.

• Security Impact:

• Direct consequences include unauthorized access to sensitive information contained in search results.
• Potential cascading effects involve data leaks that could lead to privacy breaches, regulatory non-compliance, or information misuse.
• Business impact includes damage to reputation, legal liabilities, and financial losses due to data exposure.

• Prevention Guidelines:

• Specific code-level fixes include implementing strict access controls and authentication checks for index access, ensuring only authorized users can perform searches.
• Security best practices involve configuring search engines to exclude sensitive documents from indexing and applying encryption to sensitive data.
• Recommended tools and frameworks include using access control frameworks like OAuth or RBAC (Role-Based Access Control) to manage permissions, and employing secure indexing solutions that respect document permissions.

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Technical Details

Likelihood of Exploit: Not specified

Affected Languages: Not Language-Specific

Affected Technologies: Not specified

Vulnerable Code Example

Python Example

import json

class DocumentIndex:
    def __init__(self):
        # A dictionary simulating an index containing sensitive documents
        self.index = {
            1: {"title": "Confidential Report", "content": "Classified information about project X."},
            2: {"title": "Public Announcement", "content": "Details about the upcoming event."}
        }

    def search_document(self, doc_id):
        # No authorization check, any user can access any document by ID
        return self.index.get(doc_id, "Document not found")

# Simulating a user accessing a document by ID
index = DocumentIndex()
print(json.dumps(index.search_document(1), indent=2))  # Potential vulnerability: accessing sensitive information

Vulnerability Explanation

• The code creates an index of documents, some of which contain sensitive information.
• The search_document method allows any user to access any document without any form of authorization check.
• This means that even unauthorized users can access sensitive documents like the "Confidential Report".

How to fix Improper Authorization of Index Containing Sensitive Information?

To fix this vulnerability, it is critical to implement proper authorization controls to ensure that sensitive documents are only accessible by authorized users. The following steps outline the fix:

1. Implement Role-Based Access Control (RBAC): Define user roles and associated permissions that specify which users can access which documents.
2. Check User Authorization: Before returning a document, verify that the requesting user has the necessary permissions to access the document.
3. Log Access Attempts: Maintain logs of access attempts to sensitive documents for auditing and monitoring purposes.

Fixed Code Example

Python Example

import json

class DocumentIndex:
    def __init__(self):
        # A dictionary simulating an index containing sensitive documents with access rules
        self.index = {
            1: {"title": "Confidential Report", "content": "Classified information about project X.", "access_roles": ["admin"]},
            2: {"title": "Public Announcement", "content": "Details about the upcoming event.", "access_roles": ["admin", "user"]}
        }

    def search_document(self, doc_id, user_role):
        # Check if the document exists
        document = self.index.get(doc_id)
        if document:
            # Check if the user role is authorized to access the document
            if user_role in document["access_roles"]:
                return document
            else:
                # Log unauthorized access attempts
                return "Access Denied: Unauthorized access attempt logged."
        return "Document not found"

# Simulating a user accessing a document by ID with role
index = DocumentIndex()
print(json.dumps(index.search_document(1, "user"), indent=2))  # Expected output: Access Denied
print(json.dumps(index.search_document(1, "admin"), indent=2))  # Expected output: Confidential Report

Fix Explanation

• Access Control: Each document now contains an access_roles attribute specifying which roles can access it.
• Authorization Check: The search_document method now includes a check to verify if the user's role is authorized to access the requested document.
• Access Denied Message: Unauthorized access attempts are properly handled and logged, ensuring that sensitive information is not exposed to unauthorized users.
• Security Improvement: This ensures that only users with the appropriate roles, such as "admin", can access sensitive documents like the "Confidential Report", thereby mitigating the risk of improper authorization.