Grafana is a highly popular open-source platform for monitoring and observability, offering users the ability to visualize, understand, and manage their infrastructure, applications, and logs. However, as with any software application, vulnerabilities may arise which can lead to serious security risks.

In this long read post, we will discuss the CVE-2022-23552 vulnerability in the Grafana core plugin GeoMap. We will detail how it arose, how it can be exploited, and how to protect your environment from potential attack.

The Vulnerability

CVE-2022-23552 is a stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability affecting the Grafana core plugin GeoMap in versions 8.1 and prior (before 8.5.16, 9.2.10, and 9.3.4). Essentially, the vulnerability exists because SVG files were not being properly sanitized, which allowed arbitrary JavaScript code to be executed in the context of the currently authorized user of the Grafana instance. This poses a significant security risk as it could potentially allow an attacker to escalate their privileges and perform unauthorized actions on the vulnerable Grafana instance.

Proof of Concept (PoC) Code Snippet

The following code snippet shows a simple example of SVG code containing JavaScript that could be used to exploit the vulnerability:

<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/200/svg"; width="100%" height="100%" onload="alert('XSS in GeoMap Plugin')">
  <rect width="100%" height="100%" fill="red" />
</svg>

When a vulnerable Grafana instance processes this SVG file as part of the GeoMap plugin, it will execute the JavaScript code within the alert() function, indicating that the stored XSS vulnerability has been exploited.

Exploit Details

For an attacker to exploit this vulnerability, they must have the Editor role in dashboard panel configuration. This allows them to modify a panel to include either an external URL to an SVG file containing JavaScript, or use the data: scheme to load an inline SVG file containing JavaScript.

This means that an attacker with the Editor role could potentially change a user's password who has the Admin role, thereby allowing the attacker to escalate their privileges.

- Grafana Security Advisory
- NIST National Vulnerability Database (NVD) Detail

Mitigation and Prevention

To protect your Grafana instance from this vulnerability, it is strongly recommended to upgrade Grafana to version 8.5.16, 9.2.10, or 9.3.4, which includes the fix for the stored XSS vulnerability.

In addition, Grafana administrators should be cautious when granting Editor roles to users, as only trusted users should be allowed to modify dashboard panel configurations to prevent potential exploitation of this vulnerability.

Conclusion

CVE-2022-23552 is a serious stored XSS vulnerability affecting the Grafana core plugin GeoMap. By understanding the details of the vulnerability, its exploit, and available prevention methods, Grafana administrators can take appropriate measures to protect their Grafana instances from potential attacks. By upgrading to the latest Grafana version and being cautious with user roles, you can help to ensure the security of your monitoring and observability environment.

Timeline

Published on: 01/27/2023 23:15:00 UTC
Last modified on: 02/07/2023 19:57:00 UTC