Cybersecurity researchers have disclosed particulars of a now-patched account takeover vulnerability affecting a preferred on-line journey service for resort and automotive leases.
“By exploiting this flaw, attackers can achieve unauthorized entry to any person’s account inside the system, successfully permitting them to impersonate the sufferer and carry out an array of actions on their behalf – together with reserving lodges and automotive leases utilizing the sufferer’s airline loyalty factors, canceling or enhancing reserving data, and extra,” API safety agency Salt Labs stated in a report shared with The Hacker Information.
Profitable exploitation of the vulnerability might have put hundreds of thousands of on-line airline customers in danger, it added. The title of the corporate was not disclosed, nevertheless it stated the service is built-in into “dozens of economic airline on-line providers” and permits customers so as to add resort bookings to their airline itinerary.
The shortcoming, in a nutshell, may be weaponized trivially by sending a specifically crafted hyperlink that may be propagated by way of normal distribution channels comparable to electronic mail, textual content messages, or attacker-controlled web sites. Clicking on the hyperlink is sufficient for the menace actor to hijack management of the sufferer’s account as quickly because the login course of is full.
Websites that combine the rental reserving service have the choice to login to the latter utilizing the credentials related to the airline service supplier, at which level the rental platform generates a hyperlink and redirects the person again to the airline’s web site to finish authentication by way of OAuth.
As soon as the check in is profitable, the customers are directed to a web site that adheres to the format “
The assault methodology devised by Salt Labs includes redirecting the authentication response from the airline web site, which incorporates the person’s session token, to a web site below the attacker’s management by manipulating a “tr_returnUrl” parameter, successfully permitting them to entry the sufferer’s account in an unauthorized method, together with their private data.
“Because the manipulated hyperlink makes use of a reputable buyer area (with manipulation occurring solely on the parameter degree fairly than the area degree), this makes the assault tough to detect by means of normal area inspection or blocklist/allowlist strategies,” safety researcher Amit Elbirt stated.
Salt Labs has described service-to-service interactions as a profitable vector for API provide chain assaults, whereby an adversary targets the weaker hyperlink within the ecosystem to interrupt into programs and steal personal buyer information.
“Past mere information publicity, attackers can carry out actions on behalf of the person, comparable to creating orders or modifying account particulars,” Elbirt added. “This essential danger highlights the vulnerabilities in third-party integrations and the significance of stringent safety protocols to guard customers from unauthorized account entry and manipulation.”