CVE-2022-45927: Pre-authenticated Remote Code Execution via Java frontend and QDS endpoint (OpenText™ Extended ECM)

There is a vulnerability in the Java Frontend of the OpenText™ Content Server component of OpenText™ Extended ECM, which allows an attacker to set the value of the “_REQUEST” parameter of a request. The “QDS” component uses this value for authentication and compares it with a static known value, which allows an attacker to bypass the authentication. This “QDS” component allows the creation of new arbitrary objects, which are owned by the super administrator “ID == 1000” and can lead to remote code execution.

Vendor description

“OpenText™ Extended ECM is an enterprise CMS platform that securely governs the information lifecycle by integrating with leading enterprise applications, such as SAP®, Microsoft® 365, Salesforce and SAP SuccessFactors®. Bringing content and processes together, Extended ECM provides access to information when and where it’s needed, improves decision-making and drives operational effectiveness.”

Source: https://www.opentext.com/products/extended-ecm

Business recommendation

The vendor provides a patch which should be installed immediately.

Vulnerability Overview/Description****1) Pre-authenticated Remote Code Execution via Java frontend and QDS endpoint (CVE-2022-45927)

The QDS endpoints of the Content Server are not protected by the normal user management functionality of the Content Server, but check the value of the key _REQUEST of the incoming data. Normally this parameter is set by the HTTP frontend (e.g. the CGI binary cs.exe or Java application servlet) to llweb.

There is a bug in the Java application server, found in %OT_BASE%/application/cs.war, which allows an attacker to actually set the value of the key _REQUEST to an arbitrary value and bypass the authorization checks.

Most of the endpoints cannot be called, because they require specific data types of the incoming data, which can not be controlled by the attacker. Only strings are supported. But a few endpoints can be called which allow an attacker to create files or execute arbitrary code on the server.

Proof of concept****1) Pre-authenticated Remote Code Execution via Java frontend and QDS endpoint (CVE-2022-45927)

To be able to set the value of the _REQUEST parameter the attacker has to send the data via a POST request with a Content-Type of multipart/form-data.

This results in the following execution flow:

[ Details removed, will be published at a later date ]

The following request (using the `CGI` frontend) results in an unauthorized response:

[ PoC removed, will be published at a later date ]

<!-- Response -->
<div class="cs-form-container cs-form-message-container"> 
  <div> 
    <div class="cs-form-line-text cs-form-message cs-form-message-error" title="Error" id="errMsg" > 
      <p> 
        Content Server Error: 
      </p> 
      <p> 
        The request did not come from XXX. 
      </p> 
    </div> 
  </div> 
</div> 

Whereas using the Java application server results in the following response:

HTTP/1.1 200 
A<1,?,'ErrMsg'=?,'ErrMsgDetail'=?,'OK'=true,'QDSServerList'={}>Content-Type: text/html;charset=UTF-8
Cache-Control: no-cache
X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN
Content-Security-Policy: frame-ancestors 'self'
X-UA-Compatible: IE=edge
Content-Length: 0
Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2022 13:04:47 GMT
Connection: close

Create new objects:

Using this bug it is possible to create objects in the Content Server without known credentials and in the context of the super-admin user ( ID 1000 ), by calling the endpoint [ Details removed, will be published at a later date ].

[ PoC removed, will be published at a later date ]

The new object (subType = 145 text file) is created without providing cookies and the `owner` attribute of this object is set to 1000 (super admin):

HTTP/1.1 200 A<1,?,’CATEGORY’=?,’CloneTime’=D/2022/9/28: 8:10:5,’COMMENT’=’created’,’ContentType’=?,’CREATEDATE’=D/2022/9/28:8:10:5,’CREATEDBY’=1000,’DataID’=51982,’DATELASTMODIFY’=D/2022/9/28:8:10:5,’EXATT1’=?,’EXATT2’=?,’EXTENDEDDATA’=?,’GROUPPERM’=128,’location’=E648871951,’MAJOR’=?,’MAXVERSION’=-1,’MINOR’=?,’Name’=’qds-create-poc.txt’,’nextURL’=E648871951,’Node’=A<1,?,’AssignedTo’=?,’CacheExpiration’=0,’Catalog’=0,’ChildCount’=0,’CreateDate’=D/2022/9/28:8:10:5,’CreatedBy’=1000,’DataID’=51982,’DataType’=?,’DateAssigned’=?,’DateCompleted’=?,’DateDue’=?,’DateEffective’=?,’DateExpiration’=?,’DateStarted’=?,’DCategory’=?,’DComment’=’created’,’Deleted’=0,’ExAtt1’=?,’ExAtt2’=?,’ExtendedData’=?,’ExternalCreateDate’=?,’ExternalCreatorID’=?,’ExternalModifyDate’=?,’ExternalSourceID’=?,’GIF’=?,’GPermissions’=128,’GroupID’=999,’GUID’=’@[537A1229-E0F5-45EE-A3F2-D7F91EE6CBBC]',’Major’=?,’MaxVers’=-1,’Minor’=?,’ModifiedBy’=1000,’ModifyDate’=D/2022/9/28:8:10:5,’Multilingual’=V{<’LanguageCode’,’Name’,’DComment’><’de’,’qds-create-poc.txt’,’created’>},’Name’=’qds-create-poc.txt’,’Ordering’=?,’OriginDataID’=0,’OriginOwnerID’=0,’OwnerID’=-2004,’ParentID’=2004,’PermID’=?,’Priority’=?,’ReleaseRef’=?,’Reserved’=0,’ReservedBy’=0,’ReservedDate’=?,’SPermissions’=16777215,’Status’=?,’SubType’=144,’UPermissions’=16777215,’UserID’=1000,’VersionNum’=1,’WPermissions’=128>,’OK’=true,’ORDERING’=?,’ORIGINALID’=0,’ORIGINALVOLID’=0,’PARENTID’=2004,’PERMISSIONS’=-2130706433,’PermsOK’=true,’Public’=false,’RELEASEREF’=?,’RESERVED’=0,’RESERVEDBY’=0,’RESERVEDDATE’=?,’SUBTYPE’=144,’SYSTEMPERM’=16777215,’USERID’=1000,’USERPERM’=16777215,’VERSION’=A<1,?,’DataSize’=6,’DocID’=51982,’ExternalCreateDate’=?,’ExternalCreatorID’=?,’ExternalModifyDate’=?,’ExternalSourceID’=?,’FileCDate’=D/2022/9/28:8:10:5,’FileCreator’=?,’FileMDate’=D/2022/9/28:8:10:5,’FileName’=’qds-create-poc.txt’,’FileType’=’html’,’GUID’=’@[DF09D9F7-6A86-40CB-AECD-57FD5FB7D38B]',’Indexed’=0,’Locked’=0,’LockedBy’=?,’LockedDate’=?,’MimeType’=’text/html’,’Owner’=1000,’PageNum’=?,’Platform’=0,’ProviderId’=51982,’ProviderName’=’SQL’,’ResSize’=0,’VerCDate’=D/2022/9/28:8:10:5,’VerComment’=?,’VerMajor’=0,’VerMDate’=D/2022/9/28:8:10:5,’VerMinor’=1,’Version’=1,’VersionID’=51982,’VersionName’=’1’,’VerType’=?>,’versionInfo’=A<1,?,’COMMENT’=?,’CREATEDATE’=D/2022/9/28:8:10:5,’FILECREATEDATE’=D/2022/9/28:8:10:5,’FILECREATOR’=?,’FILEDATASIZE’=6,’FILEMODIFYDATE’=D/2022/9/28:8:10:5,’FILENAME’=’qds-create-poc.txt’,’FILEPLATFORM’=0,’FILERESSIZE’=0,’FILETYPE’=’html’,’ID’=51982,’INDEXED’=0,’LOCKED’=0,’LOCKEDBY’=?,’LOCKEDDATE’=?,’MIMETYPE’=’text/html’,’MODIFYDATE’=D/2022/9/28:8:10:5,’NAME’=’1’,’NODEID’=51982,’NUMBER’=1,’OWNER’=1000,’PROVIDERID’=51982,’PROVIDERNAME’=’SQL’,’TYPE’=?>,’VOLUMEID’=-2004,’WORLDPERM’=128>Content-Type: text/html;charset=UTF-8 Cache-Control: no-cache X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN Content-Security-Policy: frame-ancestors ‘self’ X-UA-Compatible: IE=edge Content-Length: 0 Date: Wed, 28 Sep 2022 08:10:05 GMT Connection: close

There is a process object (typeId = 271), which can be created and executed afterwards allowing attackers to execute arbitrary code.

Vulnerable / tested versions

The following version has been tested:

• 22.1 (16.2.19.1803)

The following versions are vulnerable according to the vendor:

• 20.4 - 22.3

Vendor contact timeline