CVE-2002-0097 in Geeklog
Summary
by MITRE
Geeklog 1.3 allows remote attackers to hijack user accounts, including the administrator account, by modifying the UID of a user s permanent cookie to the target account.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/13/2019
The vulnerability described in CVE-2002-0097 represents a critical session management flaw in Geeklog version 1.3 that enables unauthorized account takeover through cookie manipulation. This issue falls under the category of session hijacking and authentication bypass, where attackers can exploit weak cookie validation mechanisms to assume the identity of any user within the system. The vulnerability specifically targets the permanent cookie mechanism used by Geeklog for user authentication, making it particularly dangerous as it can be exploited to gain administrative privileges and full system control.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and insufficient cryptographic protection of session identifiers within the cookie storage system. When Geeklog generates permanent cookies for user authentication, it fails to properly validate the user identifier (UID) contained within these cookies before accepting them as legitimate authentication tokens. Attackers can simply modify the UID value in an existing cookie to match any target user's identifier, including that of the administrator account, without requiring knowledge of passwords or additional authentication factors. This weakness directly violates fundamental security principles of proper authentication validation and session management.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability creates severe consequences for any organization using Geeklog 1.3, as it allows attackers to gain unauthorized access to user accounts and potentially compromise the entire system. The ability to hijack administrator accounts means that attackers can modify system configurations, access sensitive data, delete content, and perform other malicious activities that would normally be restricted to authorized administrators. This vulnerability effectively undermines the entire authentication framework of the application and can lead to complete system compromise, data breaches, and unauthorized access to user information. The attack requires minimal technical expertise and can be executed remotely, making it particularly dangerous for web applications that handle sensitive user data.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on implementing robust session management practices and proper input validation mechanisms. Organizations should immediately upgrade to a patched version of Geeklog that addresses the cookie validation issue and implements proper cryptographic protection for session identifiers. The fix should include server-side validation of cookie contents, implementation of secure random session ID generation, and proper authentication token verification before granting access privileges. Additionally, implementing proper access control mechanisms and monitoring for suspicious authentication patterns can help detect and prevent exploitation attempts. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-613, which addresses insufficient session expiration, and represents a clear violation of ATT&CK technique T1566, which covers credential harvesting through session hijacking. Organizations should also consider implementing additional security controls such as secure cookie attributes, HTTPS enforcement, and regular security assessments to prevent similar vulnerabilities from emerging in other applications.