CVE-2002-1352 in Cartman
Summary
by MITRE
Per Magne Knutsen s CartMan shopping cart (cartman.php) 1.04 and earlier allows remote attackers to modify product prices by changing the price parameter.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/15/2018
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2002-1352 represents a critical authorization and input validation flaw within Per Magne Knutsen s CartMan shopping cart software version 1.04 and earlier. This issue resides in the cartman.php script which forms the core component of the e-commerce platform. The vulnerability stems from insufficient validation of user-supplied input parameters, specifically the price parameter that controls product pricing within the shopping cart system. Attackers can exploit this weakness by directly manipulating the price parameter through HTTP requests, thereby bypassing normal authorization mechanisms that should prevent unauthorized modifications to product pricing information.
This vulnerability falls under the category of insecure direct object references and input validation failures, aligning with CWE-284 for improper access control and CWE-20 for improper input validation. The technical implementation flaw occurs at the application level where the system fails to properly authenticate and authorize requests modifying product pricing data. The lack of proper parameter validation allows malicious actors to inject arbitrary values into the price field, potentially enabling them to set product prices to zero, negative values, or any other arbitrary amount. This represents a fundamental breakdown in the web application s security architecture and demonstrates poor input sanitization practices.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple price manipulation and represents a significant threat to e-commerce business integrity and financial security. An attacker exploiting this vulnerability could potentially cause substantial financial losses through unauthorized price reductions, create pricing inconsistencies across the product catalog, or even manipulate inventory valuation systems. The vulnerability affects the entire transactional integrity of the shopping cart system and could lead to revenue loss, customer trust erosion, and potential legal implications related to pricing discrepancies. Additionally, this flaw could serve as a stepping stone for more sophisticated attacks targeting other components of the web application.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2002-1352 should focus on implementing robust input validation and authorization controls within the cartman.php script. The primary remediation involves adding proper parameter validation to ensure that only authorized administrators can modify product pricing information. This includes implementing authentication checks that verify user roles and permissions before allowing any price modification operations. The system should enforce strict input sanitization to prevent malicious parameter injection and implement proper access controls that validate each request against legitimate user credentials and administrative privileges. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls to detect and block suspicious parameter modifications, while regular security audits should verify that all input parameters are properly validated before processing. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of following secure coding practices and implementing defense-in-depth strategies to protect e-commerce applications from unauthorized modifications.