CVE-2001-0001 in PHP-Nuke
Summary
by MITRE
cookiedecode function in PHP-Nuke 4.4 allows users to bypass authentication and gain access to other user accounts by extracting the authentication information from a cookie.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/30/2018
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2001-0001 resides within the cookiedecode function of PHP-Nuke version 4.4, representing a critical authentication bypass flaw that fundamentally compromises the security model of the web application. This issue stems from improper handling of authentication tokens within HTTP cookies, creating a pathway for malicious actors to extract and manipulate session information that should remain protected. The vulnerability specifically targets the cookie decoding mechanism that is responsible for validating user credentials and maintaining authenticated sessions within the PHP-Nuke framework.
The technical flaw manifests through a weakness in the cookie decryption process where the cookiedecode function fails to properly validate or sanitize the cookie data before processing it. This improper validation allows attackers to craft malicious cookie values that, when decoded, reveal sufficient authentication information to impersonate other users within the system. The vulnerability is categorized under CWE-287 which addresses improper authentication mechanisms, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1078.101 focusing on valid accounts for credential access. Attackers can exploit this weakness by manipulating cookie values to extract session tokens, user identifiers, or encrypted authentication data that would normally require legitimate access to retrieve.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe as it enables unauthorized access to user accounts without requiring legitimate credentials, effectively nullifying the authentication system's purpose. Once exploited, attackers can access sensitive user data, modify account settings, post content as other users, and potentially escalate privileges within the application. The vulnerability affects the entire user base of PHP-Nuke 4.4 installations, making it particularly dangerous as it can be exploited by anyone with access to the web application. This authentication bypass can lead to complete compromise of user accounts, data breaches, and potential further exploitation within the application's ecosystem.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2001-0001 require immediate implementation of security patches from the PHP-Nuke development team, as the vulnerability represents a fundamental flaw in the session management system. Organizations should implement proper input validation and sanitization for all cookie data, ensuring that authentication tokens are properly encrypted and validated before being processed. The fix should include strengthening the cookiedecode function to reject malformed or suspicious cookie values, implementing additional authentication checks, and ensuring that session tokens are properly scoped to prevent cross-user access. Security measures should also include monitoring for unusual authentication patterns and implementing secure cookie attributes such as httponly and secure flags to prevent client-side script access to sensitive authentication data. Additionally, system administrators should consider implementing network-level protections and regular security audits to detect and prevent exploitation attempts.