Microsoft recently addressed a vulnerability in its Azure Health Bot, a cloud-based platform used by healthcare organizations to develop virtual healthcare assistants. This vulnerability was related to the elevation of privilege due to improper link resolution before file access, labeled as CVE-2024-38098.
Tenable researchers discovered this issue but noted that it had not been exploited. They reported the vulnerability to Microsoft in June, and a fix was implemented by early July. The fix involved blocking redirect status codes for data connection endpoints to prevent unauthorized access.
The Azure Health Bot, a HIPAA-compliant platform, uses natural language processing and medical data to assist in clinical care. Healthcare organizations can tailor the bot to create virtual assistants for their staff.
Tenable’s research revealed that they were able to access Microsoft’s internal subscription information via an access token for management.azure.com. They found that the vulnerability could potentially allow access to cross-tenant resources within Microsoft’s Azure infrastructure.
Tenable researchers focused on the Health Bot’s data connection capabilities, which allow it to interact with external sources like patient information portals and medical reference databases.
Their investigation revealed that the vulnerability could lead to lateral movement across different resources, though an endpoint used for validating Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) connections was not as vulnerable. Despite this, the potential for lateral movement raised concerns over further resource access.
In addition to the Azure Health Bot issue, Microsoft has been dealing with other security challenges. In its August report, the company disclosed that six of nine zero-day vulnerabilities had been exploited. This reflects broader security trends, particularly in the healthcare sector, where the implementation of FHIR-based APIs and other technologies increases the risk of exposure if not properly secured.
The U.S. healthcare system has increasingly adopted FHIR standards to enhance data interoperability. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services mandates the use of FHIR APIs in certified electronic health records, which platforms like Azure Health Bot can access.
These advancements are crucial for modernizing healthcare, but as FHIR is a framework, vulnerabilities often arise from how it is implemented by developers. The continued focus on securing these technologies is essential to safeguarding patient data and maintaining system integrity.
