Trustwave's SpiderLabs Security Advisory TWSL2015-022: Cross-Site Scripting in VMware Virtual Center Appliance (vCSA) Web Application Console Published: 11/17/2015 Vendor: VMware (http://www.vmware.com/) Product: Virtual Center Appliance (vCSA) Web Application Console Versions Affected: vCSA 5.5 U2, vCSA 5.1 U3 and prior versions Product description: vCSA is used to manage the vSphere virtual environment and is a Linux alternative to vCenter server deployments. Finding 1: Cross-Site Scripting, Reflected Credit: Tanya Secker of Trustwave SpiderLabs CWE: CWE-200 It is possible to inject arbitrary HTML and JavaScript into requests which are ultimately executed by the end browser. As the authentication mechanisms are being tied to the body of the request as a parameter and the application allows POST and GET to be used interchangeably it would be possible to use authenticated payloads for attacks outside of the user space via links so long as the 'HTTP_AUTHORIZATION' parameter contains a base64 encoded value of a valid username/tokenized password pair. The following example URLs will render a harmless proof of concept alert boxes. Note the same area is vulnerable, via different circumstances/parameters. https://:5480/service/virtualcenter/support-bundle.py?downloadbundle=">&HTTP_AUTHORIZATION=Basic+ https://:5480/service/virtualcenter/support-bundle.py?checkbundle=tmptvxYnz&HTTP_AUTHORIZATION=Basic%27%3balert(1)%2f%2f https://:5480/service/virtualcenter/support-bundle.py?generatebundle=start&HTTP_AUTHORIZATION=Basic%3balert('xss')%2f%2f Vendor Response: [Due to] "..the low severity of this issue and the authentication is required. We won�t be releasing a Security Advisory on it. Customers that are concerned about this issue should consider moving to 6.0." Remediation Steps: Upgrade Virtual Center Appliance to version 6.0. Additionally, it is recommended that technologies, such as WebApplication Firewalls (WAF) and/or Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS) are in use. Revision History: 05/13/2015 - Vulnerability disclosed to vendor 11/17/2015 - Advisory published About Trustwave: Trustwave helps businesses fight cybercrime, protect data and reduce security risks. With cloud and managed security services, integrated technologies and a team of security experts, ethical hackers and researchers, Trustwave enables businesses to transform the way they manage their information security and compliance programs while safely embracing business imperatives including big data, BYOD and social media. More than 2.5 million businesses are enrolled in the Trustwave TrustKeeper� cloud platform, through which Trustwave delivers automated, efficient and cost-effective data protection, risk management and threat intelligence. Trustwave is a privately held company, headquartered in Chicago, with customers in 96 countries. For more information about Trustwave, visit www.trustwave.com. About Trustwave SpiderLabs: SpiderLabs(R) is the advanced security team at Trustwave focused on application security, incident response, penetration testing, physical security and security research. The team has performed over a thousand incident investigations, thousands of penetration tests and hundreds of application security tests globally. In addition, the SpiderLabs Research team provides intelligence through bleeding-edge research and proof of concept tool development to enhance Trustwave's products and services. https://www.trustwave.com/spiderlabs Disclaimer: The information provided in this advisory is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. Trustwave disclaims all warranties, either express or implied, including the warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. In no event shall Trustwave or its suppliers be liable for any damages whatsoever including direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, loss of business profits or special damages, even if Trustwave or its suppliers have been advised of the possibility of such damages. Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages so the foregoing limitation may not apply.