CVE-2022-35957 is an authentication bypass vulnerability affecting Grafana, an open-source platform widely used for monitoring and observability. The vulnerability specifically impacts Grafana versions prior to 9.1.6 (for versions >9.0.0) and versions below 8.5.13. The flaw arises when the authentication proxy (auth proxy) feature is enabled. In this configuration, an attacker with administrative privileges can escalate their access to server admin level by spoofing authentication headers or requests. This escalation allows the attacker to take full control over the Grafana instance, including the ability to modify dashboards, access sensitive monitoring data, and potentially manipulate alerting and observability configurations. The root cause is an improper validation of authentication credentials when auth proxy is used, classified under CWE-290 (Authentication Bypass by Spoofing). The vulnerability does not require external unauthenticated access; the attacker must already have admin-level access within Grafana, but can then elevate to server admin privileges. No known exploits have been reported in the wild to date. The vendor recommends upgrading affected Grafana installations to versions 9.1.6 or later, or 8.5.13 or later. As a temporary mitigation, disabling the auth proxy feature is advised, following official Grafana documentation. This vulnerability impacts the integrity and confidentiality of monitoring data and the availability of the Grafana service due to potential administrative takeover. Given the central role of Grafana in IT infrastructure monitoring, exploitation could lead to significant operational disruption and data exposure.

For European organizations, the impact of this vulnerability can be substantial, especially for those relying on Grafana for critical infrastructure monitoring, IT operations, and observability. An attacker escalating privileges to server admin could manipulate monitoring dashboards, disable alerts, or inject false data, potentially masking ongoing attacks or system failures. This undermines the integrity and reliability of monitoring systems, which are essential for timely incident response. Confidentiality is also at risk, as sensitive operational metrics and logs could be accessed or exfiltrated. Availability may be affected if the attacker disrupts Grafana services or deletes configurations. Sectors such as finance, energy, telecommunications, and government agencies in Europe, which often use Grafana for real-time monitoring, could face operational risks and compliance issues. The vulnerability's requirement for initial admin access limits remote exploitation but insider threats or compromised admin accounts could be leveraged. The absence of known exploits reduces immediate risk but does not eliminate the threat, especially in targeted attacks. Organizations with complex auth proxy setups are particularly vulnerable, as the misconfiguration or exploitation of this feature directly enables privilege escalation.

1. Immediate upgrade of all Grafana instances to version 9.1.6 or later, or 8.5.13 or later, as these versions contain the patch for CVE-2022-35957. 2. If upgrading is not immediately feasible, disable the auth proxy feature entirely following Grafana's official guidance to prevent exploitation of the authentication bypass. 3. Audit existing admin accounts and their access patterns to detect any suspicious privilege escalations or unauthorized access. 4. Implement strict access controls and monitoring around Grafana admin accounts, including multi-factor authentication (MFA) for admin users to reduce the risk of credential compromise. 5. Review and harden the configuration of the auth proxy, ensuring that only trusted proxies are allowed and that headers cannot be spoofed or manipulated. 6. Monitor Grafana logs and network traffic for anomalies indicative of privilege escalation attempts or unauthorized access. 7. Integrate Grafana monitoring with centralized security information and event management (SIEM) systems to enable rapid detection and response. 8. Educate administrators about the risks of auth proxy configurations and the importance of timely patching. These steps go beyond generic advice by focusing on configuration hardening, access control, and proactive monitoring specific to the nature of this vulnerability.