CVE-2024-13185

Executive Summary

CVE-2024-13185 is a security advisory affecting the MinigameCenter module, which is likely a component of a larger web application or content management system. The vulnerability stems from insufficient restrictions on loading URLs, potentially allowing an attacker to perform Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) attacks. This can lead to information leakage, such as internal network reconnaissance, access to cloud metadata endpoints, or exposure of sensitive configuration files. The CVSS score is 0.0 due to incomplete scoring data, but based on the description, the vector suggests a low-severity information disclosure risk. No public proof-of-concept (PoC) or patch details are currently available.

Supply Chain & Package Security

This vulnerability is not associated with a package manager (NPM, PyPI, Go, Ruby). It is a custom module, likely part of a proprietary or open-source web application. Supply chain risks are minimal unless the module is distributed via a private repository.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

• CVSS Score: 0.0 (Unscored)
• Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
• Attack Vector: Network (AV:N) – Exploitable remotely.
• Attack Complexity: Low (AC:L) – No special conditions required.
• Privileges Required: None (PR:N) – No authentication needed.
• User Interaction: None (UI:N) – No user action required.
• Scope: Unchanged (S:U) – Impact confined to the vulnerable component.
• Confidentiality: Low (C:L) – Limited information disclosure.
• Integrity: None (I:N) – No data modification.
• Availability: None (A:N) – No service disruption.

Threat Level: Low to Medium. While the CVSS score is low, SSRF vulnerabilities can be chained with other attacks (e.g., cloud metadata theft) to escalate impact.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The MinigameCenter module fails to properly validate or restrict URLs that it loads or fetches. This is a classic SSRF vulnerability where an attacker can supply a malicious URL (e.g., http://169.254.169.254/latest/meta-data/) that the server then fetches, potentially exposing internal resources.

Root Cause: The module likely uses a function like file_get_contents(), curl_exec(), or fetch() without a whitelist of allowed domains or protocols. The lack of input sanitization allows an attacker to specify arbitrary URLs, including internal IP addresses or cloud metadata endpoints.

Attack Scenario:

1. An attacker identifies an endpoint in the MinigameCenter module that accepts a URL parameter (e.g., ?url=http://example.com).
2. The attacker replaces the URL with an internal address (e.g., http://192.168.1.1/admin).
3. The server fetches the internal resource and returns the response to the attacker, leaking sensitive data.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Since no patch is available, the following is a hypothetical comparison.

Vulnerable Code (PHP example):

<?php
$url = $_GET['url'];
$response = file_get_contents($url);
echo $response;
?>

Patched Code (Hypothetical):

<?php
$url = $_GET['url'];
$allowed_hosts = ['api.example.com', 'cdn.example.com'];
$parsed_url = parse_url($url);
if (!in_array($parsed_url['host'], $allowed_hosts)) {
    die('Invalid URL');
}
$response = file_get_contents($url);
echo $response;
?>

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team (Attacker)

Lab Setup:

• Target: A web server running the MinigameCenter module.
• Attacker: Kali Linux with Burp Suite or curl.

Exploitation Steps:

1. Identify the vulnerable parameter (e.g., ?url=).
2. Test with a simple external URL to confirm functionality:

   curl "http://target.com/minigamecenter?url=http://example.com"
   

3. Attempt SSRF to internal resources:

   curl "http://target.com/minigamecenter?url=http://169.254.169.254/latest/meta-data/"
   

4. If successful, extract cloud metadata or internal service banners.

No public exploit code is available.

Blue Team (Defender)

Detection Steps:

• Monitor for outbound HTTP requests to internal IP ranges (e.g., 10.0.0.0/8, 172.16.0.0/12, 192.168.0.0/16, 169.254.169.254).
• Alert on unusual URL parameters containing IP addresses or internal hostnames.
• Review web server logs for requests with ?url= or similar parameters.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• Network IOCs:
  • Outbound connections to internal IP addresses (e.g., 10.x.x.x, 192.168.x.x, 169.254.169.254).
  • HTTP requests with ?url= parameter pointing to internal resources.
• File IOCs:
  • Log entries containing file_get_contents or curl_exec with suspicious URLs.
• Behavioral IOCs:
  • Unusual spikes in outbound traffic from the web server.
  • Access to cloud metadata endpoints from the web server.

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2024_13185_SSRF_MinigameCenter {
    meta:
        description = "Detects SSRF attempts targeting MinigameCenter module"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-10"
        reference = "CVE-2024-13185"
    strings:
        $url_param = "?url=" nocase
        $internal_ip = /(10\.\d{1,3}\.\d{1,3}\.\d{1,3}|192\.168\.\d{1,3}\.\d{1,3}|172\.(1[6-9]|2[0-9]|3[0-1])\.\d{1,3}\.\d{1,3}|169\.254\.\d{1,3}\.\d{1,3})/
        $metadata = "169.254.169.254" nocase
    condition:
        $url_param and ($internal_ip or $metadata)
}

Sigma Rule

title: CVE-2024-13185 SSRF Attempt via MinigameCenter
id: 8a4b3c2d-1e5f-4a7b-9c8d-0e1f2a3b4c5d
status: experimental
description: Detects HTTP requests with URL parameters pointing to internal IPs
author: Valters IT
date: 2025-04-10
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
    service: access_log
detection:
    selection:
        cs-uri-query|contains: "?url="
        cs-uri-query|contains:
            - "10."
            - "192.168."
            - "172."
            - "169.254."
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate internal API calls (if allowed)
level: medium

Suricata Rule

alert http $HOME_NET any -> $EXTERNAL_NET any (
    msg:"CVE-2024-13185 SSRF Attempt via MinigameCenter";
    flow:to_server;
    content:"?url="; http_uri;
    pcre:"/(10\.\d{1,3}\.\d{1,3}\.\d{1,3}|192\.168\.\d{1,3}\.\d{1,3}|172\.(1[6-9]|2[0-9]|3[0-1])\.\d{1,3}\.\d{1,3}|169\.254\.\d{1,3}\.\d{1,3})/Ri";
    classtype:attempted-recon;
    sid:1000001;
    rev:1;
)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Disable the vulnerable module if not essential.
2. Implement URL whitelisting – Only allow requests to trusted domains.
3. Block outbound traffic to internal IP ranges from the web server.
4. Apply input validation – Reject URLs containing IP addresses or internal hostnames.

Long-Term Fix:

• Wait for an official patch from the vendor.
• If the module is open-source, review the code and submit a fix to restrict URL loading to a whitelist.

Workarounds:

• Use a Web Application Firewall (WAF) to block requests with ?url= pointing to internal IPs.
• Monitor logs for SSRF patterns and block offending IPs.

Valters IT
Securing Digital Frontiers