The SQL Expressions experimental feature in Grafana has a security flaw in which it does not properly sanitize user input in duckdb queries, making it vulnerable to command injection and local file inclusion attacks. Users with VIEWER privileges or higher can exploit this vulnerability. However, the attack requires the duckdb binary to be in Grafana's system $PATH, and by default, this binary is not included in Grafana distributions.

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About Grafana

Grafana is a powerful open-source analytics and monitoring platform that allows users to visualize, explore, and analyze metrics from various data sources. It provides a flexible and customizable dashboard interface that enables users to create informative and interactive visualizations, making it easier to understand complex data. Grafana supports a wide range of data sources, including Prometheus, InfluxDB, MySQL, and Elasticsearch, among others. It is widely used by organizations to monitor their IT infrastructure, application performance, and business metrics in real-time.

Mitigation

1. Disable the SQL Expressions experimental feature in Grafana if it is not essential for your use case.
2. Ensure that the duckdb binary is not present in the $PATH where Grafana operates, or remove it altogether if it is not needed for other purposes.
3. Apply proper input validation and sanitization for all user inputs, especially those used in duckdb queries, to prevent command injection and local file inclusion attacks.
4. Regularly update Grafana to the latest version to benefit from security patches and improvements.
5. Restrict access and permissions for users, granting only the necessary permissions that align with their roles, and consider limiting VIEWER and higher permissions to trusted users only.
6. Monitor and audit logs

Exploit Scenario

The exploit scenario for the SQL Expressions experimental feature vulnerability in Grafana involves a malicious user with at least VIEWER permissions taking advantage of insufficiently sanitized duckdb queries containing user input. By crafting and injecting malicious commands into these queries, the attacker can execute command injection and local file inclusion attacks. This vulnerability is operational if the duckdb binary is present in Grafana's $PATH. However, it's important to note that by default, Grafana distributions do not include the duckdb binary, which is a requirement for the attack to be executed.

DockerHub Link

To try out a demo environment for CVE-2024-9264, you can visit our DockerHub repository here

Video Tutorial

Video tutorials for exploiting CVE-2024-9264 is available here

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