CVE-2002-1846 in YaBB
Summary
by MITRE
Yet Another Bulletin Board (YaBB) 1.40 and 1.41 does not require a user to submit the correct password before changing it to a new password, which allows remote attackers to modify passwords by stealing the cookie of another user, modifying the expiretime setting, and submitting the change in a profile2 action to index.php.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/10/2018
The vulnerability described in CVE-2002-1846 affects Yet Another Bulletin Board versions 1.40 and 1.41, representing a significant authentication flaw that undermines the security of user account management. This weakness stems from the software's insufficient validation mechanisms during password modification processes, creating an exploitable condition that allows unauthorized access to user accounts through session manipulation techniques.
The technical flaw manifests in the application's failure to properly authenticate users during password change operations. Specifically, the system does not require users to provide their current password before implementing changes, creating a critical gap in the authentication flow. Attackers can exploit this vulnerability by first obtaining another user's session cookie through various means such as session hijacking or cross-site scripting attacks. Once the cookie is acquired, the attacker can modify the cookie's expiration time to ensure continued access and then submit a password change request through the profile2 action endpoint in index.php without providing the legitimate user's password.
This vulnerability directly relates to CWE-305 authentication weakness, where the application fails to properly verify user credentials before allowing sensitive operations such as password modification. The flaw also aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566.002 which covers credential harvesting through phishing and social engineering, and T1531 which addresses account access removal through unauthorized password changes. The operational impact is severe as it allows attackers to completely compromise user accounts without needing to know the original passwords, effectively providing unauthorized access to all account functionalities including private messages, profile information, and potentially administrative capabilities if the compromised user held elevated privileges.
The attack vector specifically targets the session management and authentication components of the YaBB application, where session cookies serve as the primary authentication mechanism. When an attacker successfully steals a valid session cookie and manipulates the expiration time, they can leverage the vulnerable password change functionality to modify account credentials and establish persistent access. This vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of proper authentication controls and the necessity of multi-factor verification for sensitive operations such as password changes.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should include implementing proper session management protocols with secure cookie attributes such as HttpOnly and Secure flags, enforcing strict authentication requirements before allowing password modifications, and implementing session timeout mechanisms with automatic invalidation of session data upon password changes. Organizations should also consider implementing additional security measures such as CAPTCHA verification for password change requests, monitoring for suspicious password change activities, and ensuring that session tokens are properly validated against the original authentication context. The fix requires modifications to the application code to ensure that password change operations always require proper authentication verification before proceeding with any modifications to user account credentials.