Description

An issue in Squirro Cognitive Search before v.3.14.2 allows a remote attacker to escalate privileges via a crafted request.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "9.8",
  "pubDate": "2026-08-17T18:17:08.990Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-08-17T18:17:08.990Z",
  "executiveSummary": "A privilege escalation vulnerability exists in Squirro Cognitive Search prior to version 3.14.2, allowing a remote attacker to elevate their access privileges through a specially crafted request. This security flaw introduces severe risk implications, as unauthorized users may bypass security controls to gain administrative or elevated system capabilities. The vulnerability exposes the affected enterprise search platform to potential complete system compromise, data exfiltration, or unauthorized manipulation of sensitive intelligence pipelines. Exploitation of this flaw requires network connectivity to the target application and the ability to transmit a maliciously constructed payload targeting the vulnerable component. Given the nature of remote exploitation, threat actors with low-privilege accounts or unauthenticated network access—depending on the specific endpoint exposure—can leverage this vector to subvert the authorization architecture of Squirro Cognitive Search. Organizations utilizing versions earlier than 3.14.2 are at elevated risk of unauthorized privilege assumption, potentially leading to widespread operational disruption and unauthorized access to indexed enterprise data.",
  "technicalDetails": "The vulnerability resides within the request handling and authorization verification logic of Squirro Cognitive Search prior to version 3.14.2. The root cause stems from insufficient validation of incoming request parameters and inadequate enforcement of role-based access control (RBAC) boundaries during specific transactional workflows. Specifically, the application fails to adequately verify whether the issuing session or entity possesses the requisite security context to perform actions associated with higher privilege tiers.\nThe attack flow initiates when a remote attacker, possessing network exposure to the Squirro Cognitive Search instance, crafts a malicious request containing manipulated input targeting the vulnerable application endpoint. Because the underlying codebase improperly handles this input, the application fails to enforce strict authorization checks, erroneously processing the request as if it originated from a privileged security context. The payload behavior involves manipulating parameter fields or HTTP headers within the request lifecycle to deceive the internal authorization engine.\nUpon successful processing of the crafted request, the application executes operations restricted to higher-privileged administrators or internal service accounts, effectively granting the attacker unauthorized privilege escalation. Depending on the exact entry point exploited, post-exploitation impact includes the creation of arbitrary administrative accounts, modification of global system configurations, interception of cognitive search indices, or unauthorized execution of backend administrative functions. The vulnerability is exploitable remotely over the network without requiring complex physical access, though successful execution depends on reaching the exposed web interface or API endpoints of the unpatched Squirro Cognitive Search software."
}