OpenRefine vulnerable to arbitrary file read in project import with mysql jdbc url attack

Description

Summary

An arbitrary file read vulnerability allows any unauthenticated user to read the file on the server._

Details

Hi,Team,
i find openrefine support to import data from database,When use mysql jdbc to connect to database,It is vulnerable to jdbc url attacks,for example,unauthenticated attacker can read the file on the server.
There are some differences in utilization depending on the version of the mysql-connector dependency on the server side.
1. mysql-connector-java version > 8.14
The default value of allowLoadLocalInfile on the server side is false in this case.We need to manually set this value to true in the connection string.
Since the way to get the databaseurl in com/google/refine/extension/database/mysql/MySQLConnectionManager.java is to splice the individual configurations directly, we can set the allowLoadLocalInfile parameter after the other parameters(for example the databaseName parameter ).
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2. mysql-connector-java version <= 8.14
The default value of allowLoadLocalInfile on the server side is true in this case.so wo don't need do anything,Just connect to our malicious server.

PoC

env:
centos 7
openrefine 3.7.4
jdk11
mysql-connector-java version 8.30.0

you can use the tool https://github.com/4ra1n/mysql-fake-server to running a malicious mysql server.
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for example,to read the /etc/passwd file.
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set the username to base64ZmlsZXJlYWRfL2V0Yy9wYXNzd2Q= and Database name to test?allowLoadLocalInfile=true# (for mysql-connector-java version <= 8.14,just setting the database name normally) and test to connect your malicious mysql server.
you can get the file in your fake-server-files directory.
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Impact

An arbitrary file read vulnerability allows any unauthenticated user to read the file on the server._

Basic information

Type
reviewed
Severity
high
Advisory on GitHub
Open advisory ↗
Repository advisory
Open repository advisory ↗
Source code
Browse source ↗
Published (advisory)
2023-09-12 13:52:05 UTC
Updated
2023-11-11 05:01:47 UTC
GitHub reviewed
2023-09-12 13:52:05 UTC
NVD published
2023-09-15

EPSS Score

Score Percentile
3.53% 87.65%

CVSS Scores

Base score Version Severity Vector
7.5 3.1
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.

Identifiers

CWEs

CWE id Name
CWE-89 Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection')

Credits

  • nbxiglk0 (reporter)

Affected packages (1)

Vulnerable version ranges and first patched releases as published by GitHub.

Ecosystem Package Vulnerable range First patched Vulnerable functions
maven org.openrefine:database <= 3.7.4 3.7.5

References

cvelogic Threat Intelligence