CVE-2004-0261 in OpenJournal
Summary
by MITRE
oj.cgi in OpenJournal 2.0 through 2.0.5 allows remote attackers to bypass authentication and access the control panel via a 0 in the uid parameter.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/14/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2004-0261 affects the OpenJournal publishing platform version 2.0 through 2.0.5, specifically targeting the oj.cgi script that handles user authentication and control panel access. This authentication bypass flaw represents a critical security weakness that could allow unauthorized remote attackers to gain administrative privileges without proper credentials. The vulnerability stems from improper input validation within the uid parameter processing logic, where the system fails to properly validate user identifiers containing null characters or zero values.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability exploits a classic input sanitization flaw where the uid parameter validation does not adequately handle special characters including the null byte character. When a malicious user submits a uid parameter containing a zero value or null character, the authentication routine incorrectly processes this input, potentially treating it as a valid administrative identifier or bypassing the authentication check entirely. This type of vulnerability aligns with CWE-20, which encompasses improper input validation issues, and specifically demonstrates weaknesses in parameter handling and authentication mechanisms. The flaw essentially creates a path where the system's authentication logic fails to properly distinguish between legitimate and malicious input, allowing unauthorized access to protected administrative functions.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple unauthorized access, as it provides attackers with complete control over the OpenJournal system's administrative panel. This could enable malicious actors to modify content, add or remove users, alter system configurations, and potentially compromise the entire publishing platform. The remote nature of the attack means that an attacker does not need physical access to the system or local network privileges to exploit this vulnerability, making it particularly dangerous in publicly accessible environments. Attackers could leverage this flaw to conduct data manipulation, content tampering, or even establish persistent backdoors within the system. The vulnerability also represents a significant risk to data integrity and system availability, as unauthorized users could potentially disrupt the publishing workflow or corrupt system data.
Security mitigations for this vulnerability should focus on implementing proper input validation and sanitization for all user-provided parameters, particularly those used in authentication contexts. System administrators should immediately upgrade to a patched version of OpenJournal that addresses this authentication bypass flaw, as the vulnerability affects multiple versions within the 2.0.x release series. The fix should include comprehensive input validation that rejects null characters and other special characters in uid parameters, along with proper authentication routine implementations that do not rely on potentially vulnerable parameter handling. Additionally, implementing proper logging and monitoring of authentication attempts can help detect exploitation attempts, while network-level security controls such as firewalls and intrusion detection systems can provide additional layers of protection against remote exploitation attempts. This vulnerability also highlights the importance of following secure coding practices and adhering to established security frameworks that emphasize proper input validation and authentication mechanisms as outlined in various security standards and best practices.