CVE-2004-2208 in Idealbb
Summary
by MITRE
CRLF injection vulnerability in Ideal Science IdealBB 1.4.9 through 1.5.3 allows remote attackers to conduct HTTP response splitting attacks via unknown vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/05/2019
The CVE-2004-2208 vulnerability represents a critical CRLF injection flaw discovered in Ideal Science IdealBB versions 1.4.9 through 1.5.3, which enables remote attackers to execute HTTP response splitting attacks. This vulnerability operates at the application layer and specifically targets the handling of user input within HTTP response headers, creating a pathway for malicious actors to manipulate web server responses and potentially execute sophisticated attacks. The vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and sanitization mechanisms within the bulletin board software's response generation process, where user-supplied data is directly incorporated into HTTP headers without proper escaping or filtering. The CRLF injection occurs when carriage return and line feed characters are inserted into response headers, allowing attackers to inject additional HTTP headers or modify existing ones, thereby enabling various attack vectors including session hijacking, cross-site scripting, and cache poisoning.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability involves crafting malicious input that contains CRLF sequences, typically represented as \r\n or %0D%0A, which are then processed by the vulnerable application and included in HTTP response headers. When the web application generates responses, these injected sequences cause the server to interpret additional headers or content as part of the HTTP response, effectively splitting the original response into multiple responses. This splitting mechanism allows attackers to inject malicious content such as cookies, redirect headers, or other HTTP directives that can be used to manipulate browser behavior or intercept user sessions. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-113, which specifically addresses improper neutralization of CRLF sequences in HTTP headers, and represents a classic example of HTTP response splitting as outlined in the OWASP Top Ten security risks. The attack surface is particularly concerning because bulletin board systems often handle user-generated content that flows directly into HTTP responses, making the injection vectors numerous and difficult to predict.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data manipulation to encompass significant security risks including session fixation, cross-site scripting, and cache poisoning attacks. When successfully exploited, attackers can manipulate user sessions by injecting malicious Set-Cookie headers, effectively hijacking user authentication and gaining unauthorized access to protected resources. The vulnerability also enables cache poisoning attacks where malicious content can be injected into web caches, affecting all users who subsequently access cached responses. Additionally, the ability to inject redirect headers allows for phishing attacks that can redirect users to malicious sites without their knowledge. The implications for web application security are severe as HTTP response splitting attacks can bypass many traditional security controls and are particularly dangerous in environments where session management and authentication are critical. This vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper input validation and output encoding, as outlined in the OWASP Secure Coding Practices and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1190, which covers exploitation of vulnerabilities in web applications.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2004-2208 require immediate patching of affected IdealBB versions to the latest available security updates from the vendor. Organizations should implement comprehensive input validation mechanisms that sanitize all user-supplied data before it is processed or included in HTTP responses, particularly focusing on the removal or encoding of CRLF characters. The implementation of proper output encoding, specifically HTTP header encoding, is essential to prevent the injection of malicious sequences into response headers. Security measures should include the deployment of web application firewalls that can detect and block CRLF injection attempts, along with regular security audits of application code to identify potential injection points. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing strict header validation policies that reject any HTTP responses containing suspicious CRLF sequences, and establish monitoring procedures to detect anomalous response patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability serves as a reminder of the critical importance of input validation and output encoding in web application security, particularly in applications that handle user-generated content and generate dynamic HTTP responses, with the underlying principles aligning with the core tenets of secure coding practices as defined by the CERT Secure Coding Standards and the ISO/IEC 27001 information security management framework.