CVE-2024-9476: Grafana Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

CVE-2024-9476 Overview

A privilege escalation vulnerability has been identified in Grafana Labs Grafana OSS and Enterprise that allows users to gain unauthorized access to resources from other organizations within the same Grafana instance. The vulnerability exists in the Grafana Cloud Migration Assistant feature and specifically impacts deployments that utilize the Organizations feature to isolate resources.

Critical Impact

Authenticated users with access to the Cloud Migration Assistant can bypass organization isolation boundaries and access resources belonging to other organizations within the same Grafana instance, potentially exposing sensitive dashboards, data sources, and configuration data.

Affected Products

• Grafana OSS (versions utilizing Organizations feature with Cloud Migration Assistant)
• Grafana Enterprise (versions utilizing Organizations feature with Cloud Migration Assistant)

Discovery Timeline

• 2024-11-13 - CVE CVE-2024-9476 published to NVD
• 2024-11-21 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-9476

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-266 (Incorrect Privilege Assignment), indicating a fundamental flaw in how the Grafana Cloud Migration Assistant handles privilege verification across organizational boundaries. The vulnerability requires local access and high privileges to exploit, but also requires user interaction, which somewhat limits the attack surface. However, the potential for high confidentiality impact makes this a significant concern for multi-tenant Grafana deployments.

The core issue lies in the improper enforcement of organizational isolation when the Cloud Migration Assistant processes migration requests. When users initiate cloud migration operations, the assistant fails to properly validate that the resources being accessed belong to the user's authorized organization, allowing cross-organizational data access.

Root Cause

The root cause stems from incorrect privilege assignment (CWE-266) within the Grafana Cloud Migration Assistant component. The migration functionality does not properly enforce organization-level access controls when enumerating or accessing resources during the migration process. This allows authenticated users to reference and potentially export resources from organizations they are not members of, effectively bypassing the multi-tenancy isolation that the Organizations feature is designed to provide.

Attack Vector

The attack requires local access to a Grafana instance where the attacker has high privileges (such as Organization Admin) within at least one organization. With user interaction involved, the attacker can leverage the Cloud Migration Assistant to enumerate and access resources from other organizations on the same instance. This is particularly concerning in shared Grafana deployments where multiple teams or customers rely on organizational boundaries for data isolation.

The exploitation mechanism involves using the Cloud Migration Assistant's resource discovery and export capabilities while specifying or accessing resources that belong to different organizations than the attacker's assigned organization.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-9476

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual Cloud Migration Assistant activity from users who should not have access to multi-organization resources
• Access logs showing resource requests crossing organizational boundaries
• Migration operations targeting resources outside the initiating user's organization scope
• Unexpected data exports or synchronization activities in the Cloud Migration Assistant logs

Detection Strategies

• Monitor Grafana audit logs for Cloud Migration Assistant operations, particularly those involving cross-organization resource access
• Implement alerts for migration activities from users with limited organizational membership accessing resources from multiple organizations
• Review Cloud Migration Assistant usage patterns and correlate with authorized migration activities
• Enable detailed logging for the migration assistant feature to capture resource access patterns

Monitoring Recommendations

• Configure centralized logging for all Grafana instances to capture migration assistant activities
• Establish baseline usage patterns for the Cloud Migration Assistant and alert on deviations
• Implement periodic access reviews for users with Organization Admin privileges
• Monitor for bulk data export activities through the migration assistant

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-9476

Immediate Actions Required

• Review and restrict access to the Grafana Cloud Migration Assistant feature to only trusted administrators
• Audit recent Cloud Migration Assistant usage for any suspicious cross-organization access patterns
• Temporarily disable the Cloud Migration Assistant if immediate patching is not possible
• Review organizational membership and ensure proper access control configurations

Patch Information

Grafana Labs has released a security patch addressing this vulnerability. Organizations should update to the patched version as soon as possible. Detailed patch information and affected version ranges are available in the Grafana Security Advisory for CVE-2024-9476 and the Grafana Blog Security Release.

Workarounds

• Disable the Cloud Migration Assistant feature until patching can be completed
• Implement network-level restrictions to limit access to Grafana administrative functions
• Review and minimize the number of users with Organization Admin privileges across multiple organizations
• Consider segregating highly sensitive organizations to separate Grafana instances if immediate patching is not feasible

# Configuration example - Restrict Cloud Migration Assistant access
# In grafana.ini configuration file:
[feature_toggles]
# Disable cloud migration feature if not required
cloudMigration = false

# Review and audit organization admin assignments
# Use Grafana CLI to list organization admins:
grafana-cli admin list-orgs