Misconfigured ServiceNow Data Bases Expose Confidential Data


Customers of ServiceNow, a cloud-based platform used to handle IT companies and processes, may very well be unknowingly exposing confidential info, together with names, cellphone numbers, inner system particulars, and lively credentials.

Misconfiguration of Data Bases — self-service platforms inside ServiceNow the place customers can create, retailer, and share info comparable to articles and guides — may result in unauthorised people getting access to the system. Many organisations use Data Bases as repositories of delicate inner info, comparable to reset firm passwords, how to answer a cyberattack, knowledge associated to HR processes, and extra.

Based on a new weblog from SaaS safety platform supplier AppOmni, round 60% of exposures contain older variations of Data Bases which can be set as much as enable public entry by default. Others have “Consumer Standards” — guidelines that outline particular situations for customers to entry or contribute to Data Bases — which can be unintentionally granting entry to unauthenticated customers.

SEE: ServiceNow vs Jira Service Administration

ServiceNow is utilized by 85% of Fortune 500, and over a thousand situations are at the moment arrange incorrectly. Many organisations with a number of ServiceNow situations had been discovered to have persistently misconfigured Data Base entry controls, indicating that the settings had been both cloned throughout situations or a elementary misunderstanding of how they work exists.

Aaron Costello, chief of SaaS safety analysis at AppOmni, stated, “This highlights the pressing want for enterprises to routinely verify and replace their safety configurations to stop unauthorised entry and defend their knowledge property.

“Understanding these points and mitigate them is important for sustaining sturdy safety in enterprise SaaS environments.”

This isn’t the primary time ServiceNow has been discovered to have been exposing delicate knowledge because of person misconfigurations. In 2020, one other researcher reported the same discovering the place Data Base articles had been publicly accessible by a now-secure UI web page.

Ben De Bont, chief info safety officer at ServiceNow, stated, “ServiceNow is dedicated to fostering collaboration with the safety neighborhood. We’re dedicated to defending our prospects’ knowledge, and safety researchers are vital companions in our ongoing efforts to enhance the safety of our merchandise.”

What are the Data Base misconfigurations?

AppOmni found three circumstances whereby companies had been placing their ServiceNow Data Bases prone to compromise:

  1. If utilizing an older model of ServiceNow the place the default settings for Data Base enable public entry when Consumer Standards aren’t arrange.
  2. If the “Any Consumer” and “Any person for kb” Consumer Standards are used as allowlists. Each of those grant entry to unauthenticated customers, which directors might not realise.
  3. If directors don’t configure denylists, permitting exterior customers to bypass entry controls.

SEE: 6 Greatest Governance, Danger & Compliance (GRC) Instruments for 2024

How attackers can achieve entry to the Data Bases

Based on Costello’s proof of idea, attackers can achieve entry to misconfigured Data Bases by Public Widgets, such because the “KB Article Web page” widget, which shows content material from a selected Data Base article.

An attacker can automate requests to seek out and entry articles by the widget utilizing a instrument known as Burp Suite. That is simpler with the KB Article Web page widget, which makes use of a predictable format for article IDs of “KBXXXXXXX,” the place X represents a constructive integer.

Burp Suite’s Intruder characteristic can shortly iterate over these integers and determine articles that could be uncovered unintentionally. It could possibly then return the physique textual content, which can include the delicate knowledge of a number of unsecured articles without delay.

Tips on how to safe Data Bases in opposition to unauthorised entry

Run common diagnostics on Data Base entry controls

ServiceNow’s Consumer Standards diagnostics instrument permits directors to find out which customers, each authenticated and unauthenticated, have the power to entry Data Bases and particular person articles.

Navigate to /get_public_knowledge_bases.do to determine public Data Bases, and the complete diagnostics instrument at /km_diagnostics.do to determine the entry stage of public and personal customers to particular person articles.

Use Enterprise Guidelines to disclaim unauthenticated entry to Data Bases by default

Make sure the “sys_id 6c8ec5147711111016f35c207b5a9969” Enterprise Rule — which provides the Visitor Consumer to the “Can’t Learn and Can’t Contribute” Consumer Standards — is activated for Data Bases.

Recent Articles

Related Stories

Leave A Reply

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here