CVE-2015-4689
📋 TL;DR
CVE-2015-4689 is a weak password reset vulnerability in Ellucian Banner Student systems that allows remote attackers to reset arbitrary user passwords without proper authentication. This affects organizations using Banner Student 8.5.1.2 through 8.7 for student information management. Attackers can gain unauthorized access to student and potentially administrative accounts.
💻 Affected Systems
- Ellucian Banner Student (formerly SunGard Banner Student)
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete compromise of student information system, unauthorized grade changes, financial aid manipulation, data theft, and administrative account takeover leading to system-wide control.
Likely Case
Unauthorized access to student accounts leading to grade viewing/modification, personal information theft, and potential privilege escalation to administrative functions.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper network segmentation, strong authentication controls, and monitoring detecting password reset anomalies.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation details were publicly disclosed in security advisories and exploit code may be available in security forums.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 8.8 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://www.ellucian.com/support
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Contact Ellucian support for patch availability 2. Apply Banner Student update to version 8.8 or later 3. Restart Banner services 4. Test password reset functionality
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable External Password Reset
allTemporarily disable password reset functionality for external users while maintaining internal administrative resets.
Modify Banner configuration to restrict password reset to internal network only
Network Segmentation
allRestrict access to Banner Student application to internal network only.
Configure firewall rules to block external access to Banner Student ports
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement multi-factor authentication for all administrative and student accounts
- Deploy web application firewall with specific rules to detect and block password reset abuse patterns
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Banner Student version via administrative interface or by examining installed software version. Versions 8.5.1.2 through 8.7 are vulnerable.Check Version:
Check Banner administrative console or examine installation directory for version informationVerify Fix Applied:
Verify version is 8.8 or later and test password reset functionality with proper authentication requirements.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Multiple failed password reset attempts from single IP
- Successful password resets without proper authentication
- Password reset requests for multiple user accounts
Network Indicators:
- Unusual patterns of POST requests to password reset endpoints
- External IP addresses accessing password reset functionality
SIEM Query:
source="banner_logs" AND (event="password_reset" OR event="authentication") AND result="success" | stats count by src_ip, user🔗 References
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/134622/Banner-Student-XSS-Information-Disclosure-Open-Redirect.html
- http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/537029/100/0/threaded
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/134622/Banner-Student-XSS-Information-Disclosure-Open-Redirect.html
- http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/537029/100/0/threaded
