Sawmill Enterprise 8.7.9 Authentication Bypass

`[+] Credits: John Page AKA Hyp3rlinx  
[+] Website: hyp3rlinx.altervista.org  
[+] Source:  
http://hyp3rlinx.altervista.org/advisories/SAWMILL-PASS-THE-HASH-AUTHENTICATION-BYPASS.txt  
[+] ISR: ApparitionSec  
  
  
  
Vendor:  
===============  
www.sawmill.net  
  
  
  
Product:  
========================  
Sawmill Enterprise v8.7.9  
  
sawmill8.7.9.4_x86_windows.exe  
hash: b7ec7bc98c42c4908dfc50450b4521d0  
  
Sawmill is a powerful heirarchical log analysis tool that runs on every  
major platform.  
  
  
Vulnerability Type:  
===================================  
Pass the Hash Authentication Bypass  
  
  
  
CVE Reference:  
==============  
CVE-2017-5496  
  
  
  
Security Issue:  
=====================  
Sawmill suffers from a classic "Pass The Hash" vulnerability whereby an  
attacker who gains access to the hashed user account passwords  
can login to the Sawmill interface using the raw MD5 hash values, allowing  
attackers to bypass the work of offline cracking  
account password hashes.  
  
  
This issue usually is known to affect Windows systems e.g. (NT Pass the  
Hash/Securityfocus, 1997). However, this vulnerability can also  
present itself in a vulnerable Web application.  
  
Sawmill account password hashes are stored under LogAnalysisInfo/ directory  
in "users.cfg".  
  
e.g.  
  
users = {  
root_admin = {  
username = "admin"  
password_checksum = "e99a18c428cb38d5f260853678922e03"  
email_address = ""  
  
  
This config file is stored local to the Sawmill application. However, if an  
attacker gains access to a backup of the config that is  
stored in some other location that is then compromised, it can lead to  
subversion of Sawmills authenticaton process.  
  
Moreover, since 'users.cfg' file is world readble a regular non Admin  
Windows user who logs into the system running sawmill can now grab  
a password hash and easily login to the vulnerable application without the  
needing the password itself.  
  
  
How to test?  
  
  
Sawmill running (default port 8988), log off Windows and switch to a  
"Standard" Windows non Administrator user.  
  
1) Open "users.cfg" under Sawmills directory "C:\Program Files\Sawmill  
8\LogAnalysisInfo" and copy the root_admin Admin password hash.  
  
2) Go to the Sawmill login page in web browser http://VICTIM-IP:8988/ enter  
username 'admin' and the hash, Tada! your Admin.  
  
  
Finally, Sawmill passwords are hashed using vulnerable MD5 algorithm and no  
salt.  
  
  
e.g.  
  
password: abc123  
MD5 hash:  
e99a18c428cb38d5f260853678922e03  
  
  
  
Disclosure Timeline:  
=====================================  
Vendor Notification: January 7, 2017  
CVE-2017-5496 assigned : January 20  
Request status : January 26  
Vendor: Fix avail later in year still no ETA  
Inform vendor public disclose date  
February 18, 2017 : Public Disclosure  
  
  
  
Network Access:  
===============  
Remote  
  
  
  
Impact:  
======================  
Information Disclosure  
Privilege Escalation  
  
  
  
Severity Level:  
================  
High  
  
  
  
[+] Disclaimer  
The information contained within this advisory is supplied "as-is" with no  
warranties or guarantees of fitness of use or otherwise.  
Permission is hereby granted for the redistribution of this advisory,  
provided that it is not altered except by reformatting it, and  
that due credit is given. Permission is explicitly given for insertion in  
vulnerability databases and similar, provided that due credit  
is given to the author. The author is not responsible for any misuse of the  
information contained herein and accepts no responsibility  
for any damage caused by the use or misuse of this information. The author  
prohibits any malicious use of security related information  
or exploits by the author or elsewhere.  
  
Hyp3rlinx  
`