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GHSA-f346-8rp3-4h9h
No affected components available
Summary
A flaw in TSPortal allowed attackers to create arbitrary user records in the database by abusing validation logic. While validation correctly rejected invalid usernames, a side effect within a validation rule caused user records to be created regardless of whether the request succeeded. This could be exploited to cause uncontrolled database growth, leading to a potential denial of service (DoS).
Details
When submitting a Data Processing Agreement (DPA) request in TSPortal, the DPAAlreadyLive validation rule previously called User::findOrCreate().
This method created a user record if one did not already exist.
Although username validation (via MirahezeUsernameRule) correctly rejected invalid usernames, the DPAAlreadyLive rule was still executed during validation. Because it performed a state-changing operation, it created user records even when the overall validation failed and no DPA was created.
As a result:
- Validation correctly rejected invalid input
- However, user records were still inserted into the database as a side effect
These records were created:
- Without a successful DPA request
- Without audit logging tied to a completed action
- Without visibility into their origin
Impact
An attacker could exploit this behavior by automating requests with invalid usernames, resulting in:
- Mass creation of arbitrary user records
- Unbounded database growth
- Increased storage and indexing overhead
- Potential degradation of application performance
At scale, this could lead to a denial of service condition due to resource exhaustion.
Proof of Concept
- Submit a DPA request using an invalid username
- Ensure the request fails validation due to
MirahezeUsernameRule - Observe that a corresponding user record is still created in the database
This behavior was confirmed prior to remediation.
Root Cause
The issue stemmed from:
- Performing state-changing operations (
findOrCreate) inside validation logic - Validation rules executing regardless of overall validation success
- Lack of separation between validation and persistence layers
Mitigation
The issue has been fixed by removing database write operations from validation logic.
Specifically:
- Replaced
User::findOrCreate()with a non-mutating lookup (User::firstWhere(...)) - Ensured validation rules only perform read operations
- Prevented user creation unless all validation passes
The vulnerability can be exploited over the network without needing physical access. It is easy for an attacker to exploit this vulnerability. An attacker needs basic access or low-level privileges. No user interaction is needed for the attacker to exploit this vulnerability. The impact is confined to the system where the vulnerability exists. There is a high impact on the availability of the system.
Exploitation attempts have been detected. Elevated vigilance and prompt remediation are advised.
The exploit probability is very low. The vulnerability is unlikely to be exploited in the next 30 days.
We did not find any exploit available. Neither in GitHub repositories nor in the Exploit-Database.
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