Overview
This blog post serves to shed light on the highly-rated vulnerability, designated as CVE-2023-47295. This particular vulnerability affects the NCR Terminal Handler application, specifically version 1.5.1. The severity of this vulnerability stems from its potential to allow attackers to execute arbitrary commands via a CSV injection technique. This vulnerability is of significant concern due its potential to compromise systems and result in data leakage if exploited successfully.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2023-47295
Severity: Critical (9.8 CVSS Score)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: Required
Impact: System compromise and potential data leakage
Affected Products
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Product | Affected Versions
NCR Terminal Handler | v1.5.1
How the Exploit Works
The exploitation of this vulnerability revolves around a CSV injection technique. In essence, an attacker would craft a malicious payload and inject it into any text field within the NCR Terminal Handler application that accepts strings. Once the application processes this payload, the attacker gains the ability to execute arbitrary commands within the system. This could range from data extraction to full system control, depending on the nature of the commands executed.
Conceptual Example Code
Below is a conceptual example of how this vulnerability might be exploited. Here, the attacker sends a POST request to the target system with a malicious payload embedded into the request body:
POST /ncr/terminal HTTP/1.1
Host: target.example.com
Content-Type: application/json
{ "text_field": "=cmd|' /C calc'!A0" }The string within the “text_field” parameter is a common CSV injection payload, which, when processed by the vulnerable application, would execute the command within the single quotes-in this case opening the calculator application. In a real-world scenario, this command would likely be much more malicious, potentially leading to data leakage or full system compromise.
Mitigation Guidance
Users of NCR Terminal Handler v1.5.1 are strongly advised to apply the patch provided by the vendor to mitigate this vulnerability. Alternatively, users may employ a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) as a temporary mitigation measure, which can help to detect and block attempts to exploit this vulnerability. However, these are not long-term solutions and the patch should be applied as soon as possible to prevent potential exploitation.