CVE-2022-24637
Published: 18 March 2022
Summary
CVE-2022-24637 is a critical-severity Improper Privilege Management (CWE-269) vulnerability in Openwebanalytics Open Web Analytics. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).
Operationally, ranked in the top 0.2% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.
Deeper analysis
Open Web Analytics (OWA) versions before 1.7.4 contain a vulnerability that permits an unauthenticated remote attacker to obtain sensitive user information by leveraging improperly generated cache hashes. The root cause is that files created with the sequence '<?php rather than the intended "<?php are not processed by the PHP interpreter, allowing the attacker to read cached content containing credentials or tokens that can be used to escalate to administrative privileges. The issue is tracked as CWE-269 and carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 9.8.
An unauthenticated attacker with network access can exploit the flaw to retrieve the sensitive cached data and subsequently obtain admin-level access within the OWA installation. Public exploit code demonstrating remote code execution chains that begin with this information disclosure has been published on PacketStorm.
The official fix is provided in the OWA 1.7.4 release, which corrects the PHP tag handling that leads to the cache exposure. Administrators are advised to upgrade immediately from any prior version.
The CVE maintains a very high EPSS score, currently 0.9331 with a recorded peak of 0.9690, indicating sustained exploitation interest after disclosure.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2022-1502
Vulnerability details
Open Web Analytics (OWA) before 1.7.4 allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to obtain sensitive user information, which can be used to gain admin privileges by leveraging cache hashes. This occurs because files generated with '<?php (instead of the intended "<?php…
more
sequence) aren't handled by the PHP interpreter.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
No named actor attribution yet. ATT&CK technique mapping in progress for this CVE.
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Likely Mitigating Controls AI
Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.
Policy addresses roles, responsibilities, and privilege management to prevent improper privilege assignments.
Access supervision ensures privileges are assigned and managed without improper escalation or retention.
Assigning group/role memberships and access authorizations (privileges) while reviewing accounts addresses improper privilege management.
Enforces proper privilege management by requiring all decisions through the verified reference monitor.
By mandating division of duties across roles, the control enforces proper privilege management and prevents a single entity from controlling an entire sensitive process.
Implements core proper privilege management by restricting to only required rights.
Policy requires training on privilege management and least privilege, making it harder to exploit improper privilege management weaknesses.
Training covers proper privilege management practices, making incorrect privilege assignments less likely.