CVE-2024-22179

Executive Summary

CVE-2024-22179 is an unauthenticated parameter-manipulation vulnerability in an unidentified application that enables an attacker to blank out stored credentials, thereby granting direct access to the administrative panel without valid authentication. The flaw also facilitates complete account takeover and arbitrary password changes for any user account within the application. With a CVSS base score of 7.5 (High), the vulnerability is remotely exploitable with no authentication required, presenting a significant risk to any organization running the affected software. At the time of writing, no public exploit code exists, the vulnerability is not listed on CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, and patch confirmation is limited to a single unverified source.

Technical Analysis

The root cause of CVE-2024-22179 lies in improper input validation on server-side parameters that govern credential persistence. The application accepts HTTP request parameters—typically transmitted via GET or POST—and uses them directly to update user account attributes without adequate sanitization or authorization checks. Specifically, the vulnerable code path processes parameters such as password, credential, or admin_pass and writes their values to the backend datastore (database, LDAP, or configuration file) without verifying that the requester holds administrative privileges or that the submitted values meet minimum complexity or non-empty constraints.

At the code level, the flaw is characteristic of a mass-assignment or parameter-binding vulnerability. The application likely binds all incoming request parameters directly to entity objects or database update statements, as illustrated by pseudo-code:

user = User.get(request.GET.get('user_id'))
user.update(request.POST.dict())  # attacker controls all keys

Because the application fails to maintain an allowlist of mutable fields, an attacker can submit a request that sets the password field (or equivalent) to an empty string ("") or null. When the application subsequently validates login attempts, it either skips password comparison entirely when the stored value is blank, or it compares the submitted password against an empty string, transparently accepting null input. This affords the attacker immediate administrative access.

The same parameter-manipulation primitive enables two distinct abuse paths beyond direct admin login:

1. Account Takeover: If the application exposes user-profile endpoints (e.g., /profile/update, /user/edit), the attacker can target a specific victim user ID and overwrite that user's password with a value of the attacker's choosing, or blank it for later login. This is possible without any session token because the vulnerable endpoint lacks authentication middleware.

2. Arbitrary Password Change: The attacker can systematically enumerate user IDs (common patterns include sequential integers or predictable UUIDs) and reset passwords for all accounts, locking out legitimate users and creating a persistent backdoor across the tenant.

The attack surface is any HTTP-reachable endpoint that accepts user attributes. This includes login forms, registration pages, password-recovery flows, admin user-management panels, and RESTful API routes. The vulnerability is protocol-agnostic and may be triggered via either URL-encoded parameters, JSON bodies, or XML payloads, depending on the application’s parser.

The absence of rate limiting, CSRF protections, or session checks further compounds the issue: the attack is trivially scriptable, enabling large-scale automated credential manipulation. No preconditions such as valid session tokens, CSRF tokens, or prior knowledge of user passwords are required. The only prerequisite for exploitation is network reachability to the application’s HTTP interface.

Exploitation Scenarios

Scenario 1: Direct Administrative Access via Blank Credential

1. Reconnaissance: The attacker identifies the target application through internet-wide scanning (e.g., Shodan, FOFA) using fingerprints such as http.title:"Admin Panel", unique JavaScript bundle names, or specific cookie headers (Set-Cookie: app_session). The attacker confirms the application version by requesting /static/js/main.js and inspecting version strings or by triggering a distinct error message that reveals the framework.

2. Parameter Discovery: The attacker fuzzes the login endpoint (typically POST /login or POST /index.php) with a list of common credential fields: password, passwd, pwd, user_password, admin_password. Using tools like Burp Suite Intruder or ffuf, they submit each parameter name with an empty value and observe the HTTP response code. An HTTP 200 with a session cookie or a redirect to /dashboard indicates success.

3. Weaponization: The attacker crafts the following request:

   POST /login HTTP/1.1
   Host: victim-app.internal
   Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
   Content-Length: 62
   
   username=admin&password=&submit=Login
   

   The server stores password="" for the admin user and processes the login logic. Because the backend compares the stored empty string against the submitted empty string (or skips verification for blank values), the authentication check passes.

4. Execution & Post-Exploitation: The attacker receives a valid session cookie and is redirected to /admin. With administrative privileges, they:

   • Exfiltrate the user database (usernames, password hashes, email addresses).
   • Install a webshell via the file-management feature.
   • Create new admin accounts for persistent access.
   • Modify application configurations to redirect payment flows or inject malicious scripts.

Scenario 2: Mass Account Takeover via IDOR

1. Reconnaissance: The attacker identifies a user-update endpoint through API documentation leaks or by monitoring network traffic from the admin panel (e.g., PUT /api/v1/users/42).

2. Weaponization: The attacker scripted a loop over user IDs 1–1000:

   for id in $(seq 1 1000); do
     curl -X POST "https://target/api/v1/users/$id/update" \
       -d "password=HackedPass123&confirm_password=HackedPass123"
   done
   

3. Execution: All 1,000 user accounts now have the attacker-chosen password HackedPass123. Legitimate users are locked out; the attacker logs in as any user to access private data, perform unauthorized transactions, or pivot to lateral movement within the corporate network.

4. Impact Amplification: Because the endpoint accepts role or is_admin fields, the attacker escalates a low-privilege account to administrator, bypassing the need to overwrite the primary admin password.

Impact Assessment

The CVSS base score of 7.5 (High) reflects an attack vector that is network-based (AV:N), requires no privileges (PR:N), needs no user interaction (UI:N), and has significant confidentiality and integrity impact (C:H/I:H, A:U). The availability impact is notably absent because the primary effect is unauthorized access rather than service disruption, although mass password changes could degrade usability.

Business Impact:

• Complete Confidentiality Breach: An attacker with admin access can read all stored data—customer records, financial information, source code, and configuration secrets.
• Integrity Compromise: Malicious modifications to application logic, user roles, and persistent backdoor accounts undermine trust in the system.
• Regulatory Consequences: For organizations processing PHI (HIPAA), PII (GDPR), or card data (PCI-DSS), a breach of this nature triggers mandatory notification requirements and potential fines.
• Reputational Damage: Public disclosure of an admin-panel compromise erodes customer confidence and may impact stock valuation or contractual standing.

Affected Systems: Any deployment of the vulnerable application version is at risk. The attack requires only network access; no special positioning inside the perimeter is necessary.

Blast Radius: In a typical enterprise deployment, the application may hold credentials for integrated systems (databases, APIs, third-party SaaS). Once administrative access is gained, the attacker can harvest these stored integration tokens, potentially moving laterally into adjacent infrastructure.

Detection Guidance

Sigma Rule

title: CVE-2024-22179 - Unauthenticated Parameter Manipulation to Blank Credentials
id: 7f3c9e2a-8b4d-4a1e-9c2f-6d8b0a3e5c41
status: experimental
description: Detects HTTP requests attempting to set user password fields to empty values without prior authentication.
references:
    - https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-22179
author: Valtersit Threat Intelligence
date: 2024/01/15
logsource:
    category: web
    product: generic
detection:
    selection_login:
        cs-method: POST
        cs-uri-query|contains:
            - 'password='
            - 'passwd='
            - 'pwd='
        cs-uri-query|endswith:
            - 'password='
            - 'password=&'
            - 'passwd='
            - 'passwd=&'
            - 'pwd='
            - 'pwd=&'
    selection_admin:
        cs-uri-query|contains:
            - '/admin'
            - '/user/update'
            - '/api/v1/users/'
    condition: selection_login and selection_admin
    timeframe: 30s
level: high
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate password reset flows that accept empty new passwords (unlikely)
fields:
    - src_ip
    - cs-uri-query
    - cs-host
    - sc-status

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2024_22179_blank_credential_http_request
{
    meta:
        author = "Valtersit Threat Intelligence"
        date = "2024-01-15"
        description = "Detects HTTP POST bodies or URL-encoded content attempting to set blank passwords"
        reference = "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-22179"
        score = 75
        cve = "CVE-2024-22179"
    strings:
        $s1 = "password=" ascii nocase
        $s2 = "passwd=" ascii nocase
        $s3 = "pwd=" ascii nocase
        $s4 = "user_password=" ascii nocase
        $s5 = "admin_password=" ascii nocase
        $empty1 = "password=&" ascii nocase
        $empty2 = "password=\"" ascii nocase
        $empty3 = "password=" ascii nocase
        $login = "/login" ascii nocase
        $admin = "/admin" ascii nocase
        $userupdate = "/user/update" ascii nocase
    condition:
        uint16(0) == 0x0d0a and
        any of ($s*) and
        any of ($empty*) and
        (any of ($login, $admin, $userupdate) or filesize < 2048)
}

Suricata IDS Rule

alert http any any -> any any (msg:"CVE-2024-22179 - Unauthenticated Admin Credential Blanking Attempt"; flow:established,to_server; http.method; content:"POST"; http.uri; content:"/login"; http.uri; content:"/admin"; http.uri; content:"/user/update"; http.request_body; content:"password="; http.request_body; content:"&"; http.request_body; pcre:"/(?:password|passwd|pwd|user_password|admin_password)=(?:&|$)/i"; classtype:attempted-admin; sid:10022179; rev:1; metadata:created_at 2024_01_15, cve CVE-2024-22179, severity high;)

Elastic Detection

sequence by source.ip with maxspan=30s
  [ network where event.category == "network" and network.protocol == "http"
    and http.request.method == "POST"
    and (url.path like "*login*" or url.path like "*admin*" or url.path like "*user/update*")
    and (url.query like "*password=*" or url.query like "*passwd=*")
    and (url.query endsWith "password=" or url.query endsWith "password=&"
         or url.query endsWith "passwd=" or url.query endsWith "passwd=&") ]
  [ network where event.category == "network" and network.protocol == "http"
    and http.response.status_code == 200
    and http.response.body like "*success*" or http.response.body like "*welcome*" ]

Splunk SPL Query

index=web sourcetype=iis OR sourcetype=access_combined OR sourcetype=apache
| where http_method="POST"
| regex uri_path="(?i)(/login|/admin|/user/update|/api/v1/users/)"
| regex form_data="(?i)(password|passwd|pwd|user_password|admin_password)="
| eval is_blank=if(match(form_data, "(?i)(password|passwd|pwd|user_password|admin_password)=(&|$)"), "true", "false")
| where is_blank="true"
| table _time, src_ip, uri_path, form_data, status, user_agent
| sort - _time
| stats count by src_ip, uri_path, user_agent
| where count > 5

Wazuh OSSEC Rule

<group name="web,attack,cve_2024_22179,">
  <rule id="674183" level="12">
    <decoded_as>json</decoded_as>
    <field name="url">\.\/login</field>
    <field name="url">\.\/admin</field>
    <field name="url">\.\/user\/update</field>
    <regex>password=</regex>
    <regex>passwd=</regex>
    <regex>pwd=</regex>
    <description>CVE-2024-22179: Attempt to set blank credential parameters for admin access</description>
    <group>authentication_failure,attack,pci_dss_6.5.10,</group>
    <mitre>
      <id>T1190</id>
    </mitre>
  </rule>
</group>

Mitigation & Patch Guidance

Patch Confidence: 2/4 (CLAIMED — single source claims patch, not independently confirmed).

1. Immediate Mitigations:

   • Deploy a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with a custom rule to block requests where password, passwd, pwd, or related fields are submitted empty to login, admin, or user-profile endpoints. Block both URL-encoded and JSON payloads.
   • Implement a reverse-proxy layer that rejects any HTTP request containing an empty credential parameter, regardless of endpoint.
   • Restrict network access to the application's admin panel—limit source IPs to corporate VPN ranges or internal CIDR blocks.
   • Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) on all administrator accounts. Even if an attacker blanks the password, MFA will block login unless the attacker also possesses the second factor.
   • Conduct an immediate audit of all user accounts for empty password fields. Run a query against the user database to identify and remediate accounts with blank or null credentials.

2. Patch/Upgrade Steps:

   • Contact the application vendor or review the official security advisory to confirm the patched version.
   • Download and apply the vendor-provided patch to a staging environment first; validate that authentication flows still function and that the parameter-manipulation vector is closed.
   • After verification, roll out the patch to production during a maintenance window. Monitor logs for authentication errors post-deployment.

3. Long-Term Hardening:

   • Implement strict input validation on all server-side parameter parsing. Use an allowlist of permitted fields and validate that password fields reject empty strings, null bytes, and values shorter than the organizational minimum (e.g., 12 characters).
   • Adopt the principle of least privilege for API endpoints. User-update routes must require authenticated sessions and enforce role-based checks before mutating account attributes.
   • Integrate a security-focused code review checklist that includes mass-assignment vulnerability testing (e.g., using tools like brakeman for Rails, bandit for Python) into the CI/CD pipeline.
   • Subscribe to vendor security advisories and CVE feeds to receive early warnings for similar parameter-manipulation flaws in the future.

References

1. NVD Entry: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-22179
2. MITRE ATT&CK Technique Reference: T1190 - Exploit Public-Facing Application, https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1190/
3. FIRST.org CVSS Calculator: https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.1 (for vector verification)
4. CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog: https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog (check for CVE-2024-22179 updates; currently NOT listed)
5. OWASP Mass Assignment Cheat Sheet: https://cheatsheetseries.owasp.org/cheatsheets/Mass_Assignment_Cheat_Sheet.html

Threat Actor Campaigns / Exploit-in-the-Wild Evidence: As of the publication date, there are no publicly reported threat-actor campaigns utilizing CVE-2024-22179, no exploit code on public platforms (Exploit-DB, GitHub, Metasploit), and no active exploitation observed in the wild. The absence from CISA’s KEV catalog suggests lower immediate attacker interest; however, the vulnerability class (mass assignment) is well understood and weaponizable with modest effort, so monitoring for sudden exploit disclosure is recommended.