CVE-2011-4069
📋 TL;DR
CVE-2011-4069 is an LDAP injection vulnerability in PacketFence's admin login page that allows remote attackers to bypass authentication by crafting malicious usernames. This affects PacketFence network access control systems running versions before 3.0.2. Attackers can gain unauthorized administrative access without valid credentials.
💻 Affected Systems
- PacketFence
📦 What is this software?
Packetfence by Packetfence
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete compromise of the PacketFence system, allowing attackers to modify network access policies, create backdoor accounts, and potentially pivot to other network systems.
Likely Case
Unauthorized administrative access leading to modification of network access controls, user account manipulation, and potential data exfiltration.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper network segmentation and monitoring, though authentication bypass remains possible.
🎯 Exploit Status
Simple LDAP injection requiring only web access to the admin login page
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 3.0.2 and later
Vendor Advisory: https://packetfence.org/bugs/changelog_page.php?version_id=35
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Backup current configuration. 2. Upgrade to PacketFence 3.0.2 or later. 3. Restart PacketFence services. 4. Verify admin login functionality.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Restrict Admin Interface Access
linuxLimit access to the admin login page using firewall rules or web server configuration
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 443 -s trusted_ip -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 443 -j DROP
Implement Web Application Firewall
allDeploy WAF rules to block LDAP injection patterns in login requests
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement network segmentation to isolate PacketFence admin interface from untrusted networks
- Enable detailed logging and monitoring for authentication attempts and LDAP queries
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check PacketFence version: cat /usr/local/pf/VERSION or access admin interface and check version in footerCheck Version:
cat /usr/local/pf/VERSIONVerify Fix Applied:
Verify version is 3.0.2 or later and test authentication with proper input validation📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual LDAP query patterns in authentication logs
- Multiple failed login attempts followed by successful login with unusual username patterns
- Admin login from unexpected IP addresses
Network Indicators:
- HTTP POST requests to /admin/login.php with special characters in username parameter
- Unusual LDAP traffic patterns following admin login attempts
SIEM Query:
source="packetfence" AND (uri_path="/admin/login.php" AND (username="*)(*" OR username="*|*" OR username="*&*"))