Overview
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2023-39296 is a Prototype Pollution vulnerability that affects multiple versions of the QNAP Operating System. This security flaw has the potential to compromise system integrity or lead to data leakage if successfully exploited, thus posing a significant risk to users’ data and privacy.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2023-39296
Severity: High (7.5 CVSS Score)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Impact: Potential system compromise or data leakage
Affected Products
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Product | Affected Versions
QTS | All versions prior to 5.1.3.2578 build 20231110
QuTS hero | All versions prior to h5.1.3.2578 build 20231110
How the Exploit Works
The exploit takes advantage of a Prototype Pollution vulnerability in the QNAP Operating Systems. Prototype Pollution refers to the ability to modify a JavaScript object prototype. When this occurs, properties that are meant to be present on all objects become overwritten or polluted, hence the name. In this case, the exploit allows users to override existing attributes with incompatible types. If an attribute is overridden with an incompatible type, it can cause the system to crash.
Conceptual Example Code
Below is a conceptual example of how the vulnerability might be exploited, demonstrated through a JSON payload. This payload could be sent to a vulnerable endpoint, causing the prototype to be polluted and potentially leading to a system crash.
POST /vulnerable/endpoint HTTP/1.1
Host: target.example.com
Content-Type: application/json
{ "__proto__": { "polluted": "Prototype Polluted!" } }This payload would add a property “polluted” to all objects, demonstrating the Prototype Pollution vulnerability.
