CVE-2024-47053: Unauthorized Access to Sensitive Report Data in Mautic's HTTP Basic Authentication Implementation

In this article, we will be discussing a recently discovered vulnerability in the Mautic API, more specifically in its HTTP Basic Authentication implementation. Mautic, a popular open-source marketing automation platform, has a security flaw (CVE-2024-47053) that could potentially allow unauthorized users to gain access to sensitive report data. This vulnerability bypasses the intended access controls, enabling authenticated users with minimal permissions to obtain reports meant for higher-level users.

The Vulnerability: Improper Authorization in Mautic's API

The primary issue lies in an authorization flaw within Mautic's API Authorization implementation. As a result, any authenticated user, regardless of their assigned roles and permissions, can access all reports and their associated data via the API. This means that the "Reporting Permissions > View Own" and "Reporting Permissions > View Others" permissions, which are supposed to restrict access to non-System Reports, are effectively bypassed.

To illustrate this flaw, let's take a look at the following code snippet:

def get_report_data(user, report_id):
    if user.is_authenticated:
        report = get_report_by_id(report_id)
        return report.data
    else:
        raise UnauthorizedAccessError()

As we can see in this example, the function get_report_data only checks if the user is authenticated, and does not take into account the user's roles or permissions. This allows any authenticated user to access report data, even if they should not have access to it.

Exploiting the Vulnerability

Exploiting this vulnerability would be relatively simple for an attacker who has legitimate access to the Mautic API. An attacker can make API calls to access report data that they should not have access to, potentially exposing sensitive information about the organization's marketing efforts, customer data, and company performance.

Here is a sample API call that an attacker with minimal permissions could use to access a report meant for a higher-level user:

GET /api/reports/{report_id}/data HTTP/1.1
Host: mautic.example.com
Authorization: Basic base64(username:password)

Mitigation and Prevention

Mautic has acknowledged the vulnerability and is in the process of developing a patch to address the issue. In the meantime, organizations using Mautic's API can mitigate the risk by implementing the following measures:

Monitor API usage for unusual activity or requests for report data.

3. Implement custom authentication logic within your application to check for appropriate role and permissions for accessing report data via the API.

Conclusion

To summarize, CVE-2024-47053 is a critical vulnerability in Mautic's HTTP Basic Authentication implementation that allows unauthorized access to sensitive report data. Organizations using Mautic's API should be aware of this vulnerability, implement mitigating measures mentioned above, and stay updated on the development of the patch provided by Mautic.

Additional Resources

- Mautic API Documentation
- Mautic GitHub Repository
- Mautic Security Advisories

Timeline

Published on: 02/26/2025 13:15:40 UTC