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A few months ago, I discovered a cache deception vulnerability on a private program in the YesWeHack platform. After reporting the issue, the patch was promptly applied. However, upon further investigation, I noticed that the underlying path confusion remained, which motivated me to continue searching for additional vulnerabilities.
Eventually, my efforts led to the discovery of an endpoint within an AEM userinfo file that exposed email addresses. To my surprise, cache deception was once again present, allowing sensitive data to be accessed through improperly cached responses, which ultimately earned me this bounty.
This experience serves as a reminder that security is an ongoing process. Even after a fix has been applied, vulnerabilities can resurface in unexpected ways. In this case, the same vulnerability was found in another endpoint, which highlights the importance of continued testing and attention to detail.
You Should Know:
1. Understanding Cache Deception Attacks
Cache deception occurs when an attacker tricks a caching system into storing sensitive responses meant for one user and serving them to another.
2. Testing for Cache Deception
Use curl to check caching behavior:
curl -I -H "X-Forwarded-Host: attacker.com" http://target.com/userinfo
Check for headers like:
– `X-Cache: HIT` (confirms caching)
– `Cache-Control: public` (indicates public caching)
3. Exploiting Path Confusion
Path confusion can allow unauthorized access to restricted files. Test with:
curl http://target.com/userinfo/../admin
4. AEM-Specific Security Checks
Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) endpoints may leak data. Check for:
curl http://target.com/system/userinfo.json
5. Mitigation Techniques
- Disable caching for sensitive endpoints:
Header set Cache-Control "private, no-store"
- Validate path normalization on the server.
What Undercode Say:
Cache deception and path confusion remain critical web vulnerabilities. Always re-test patched systems, as residual misconfigurations may exist. Use Burp Suite or OWASP ZAP for automated scanning, but manual testing often uncovers deeper flaws.
Key Commands for Security Testing:
- Check HTTP Headers:
curl -I http://target.com
- Test Cache Poisoning:
curl -H "X-Original-URL: /admin" http://target.com/home
- AEM Sensitive Endpoints:
curl http://target.com/libs/granite/security/currentuser.json
- Linux Log Analysis:
grep "HTTP/1.1 200" /var/log/nginx/access.log | awk '{print $7}'
Expected Output:
A detailed report on caching misconfigurations and exposed endpoints, ensuring no sensitive data leaks via improper caching or path traversal.
(Note: No irrelevant URLs were found in the original post.)
References:
Reported By: Sindhu Neupane3 – Hackers Feeds
Extra Hub: Undercode MoN
Basic Verification: Pass ✅
