Source URL: https://gist.github.com/hackermondev/68ec8ed145fcee49d2f5e2b9d2cf2e52
Source: Hacker News
Title: Bug, $50K+ in bounties: how Zendesk left a backdoor in companies
Feedly Summary: Comments
AI Summary and Description: Yes
Summary: The text narrates the journey of a young programmer discovering a significant security vulnerability in Zendesk, which could potentially expose sensitive customer support tickets for multiple Fortune 500 companies. The discovery leads to a series of exploits tying into broader security concerns within the integration of third-party services like Zendesk and their implications for single sign-on systems.
Detailed Description:
The content elaborates on a critical security flaw found in Zendesk by a 15-year-old bug hunter, Daniel. This vulnerability enabled attackers to read sensitive customer support tickets from various organizations that utilize Zendesk, a customer service platform. The finding highlights the interconnectedness of security across third-party applications, particularly when they are integrated with internal systems.
**Major points include:**
– **Vulnerability Discovery:**
– Daniel discovered that Zendesk had insufficient protection against email spoofing.
– By exploiting this flaw, an attacker could gain access to customer support tickets using crafted emails.
– **Mechanism of the Exploit:**
– When an email is sent to a Zendesk-managed support email, a ticket is created and a related reply-to email address is generated (support+id{id}@company.com).
– An attacker could use email spoofing to impersonate legitimate senders and gain access to sensitive ticket information.
– **Initial Reporting Experience:**
– Upon reporting the vulnerability through the Zendesk bug bounty program, the response came back as “out of scope,” indicating a lack of serious engagement from Zendesk’s security team.
– **Impact and Escalation:**
– Daniel found that similar vulnerabilities had been exploited in the past to infiltrate Slack through the Zendesk integration.
– By leveraging this interconnected security issue, he replicated a methodology to potentially compromise Slack accounts of hundreds of companies.
– **Bug Reporting and Responses:**
– Daniel reported this vulnerability to individual companies, receiving mixed responses and eventually earning over $50,000 in bounties for his efforts.
– Zendesk’s disinterest initially led to a public outcry among affected companies, eventually forcing the company to acknowledge and fix the vulnerability.
– **Final Fix:**
– After lengthy negotiations and pressure from the companies, Zendesk confirmed the bug fix amid criticism over their slow response and lack of initial acknowledgment to Daniel.
– **Key Insights:**
– The case emphasizes the importance of robust security protocols when integrating third-party services.
– Organizations must consider the risks associated with sending sensitive information through potentially insecure channels.
– The narrative serves as a cautionary tale for companies relying on third-party providers for core functions, highlighting the need for thorough security assessments and continuous monitoring of third-party interactions.
For security and compliance professionals, this story underscores the necessity of maintaining a vigilant approach toward third-party services, particularly in handling sensitive information or relying on features like Single Sign-On that intertwine multiple services. The incident reflects systemic vulnerabilities that can arise and propagate through interconnected systems, necessitating a Zero Trust approach and hardened governance frameworks around data access and service integration.