CVE-2004-2623 in Rippy the Aggregator
Summary
by MITRE
Unknown vulnerability in Rippy the Aggregator before 0.10, when register_globals is enabled, has unknown attack vectors and impact, possibly related to the "user-controlled filter."
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/19/2017
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2004-2623 affects Rippy the Aggregator version 0.10 and earlier, representing a critical security flaw that emerges when the PHP configuration parameter register_globals is enabled. This vulnerability category falls under CWE-159 which specifically addresses improper handling of global variables in web applications. The issue stems from the application's failure to properly sanitize or validate user input that gets incorporated into global variables, creating potential attack vectors that could be exploited by malicious actors.
When register_globals is enabled in PHP, all variables from GET, POST, and cookie data automatically become global variables within the application's scope. This creates a dangerous environment where user-controlled data can directly influence the application's behavior without proper validation or sanitization. The vulnerability specifically relates to how the application processes "user-controlled filter" parameters, suggesting that filter mechanisms designed to control data flow or content processing may have been bypassed or inadequately implemented. This flaw allows attackers to potentially manipulate application logic through crafted input that gets interpreted as global variables.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data manipulation, as it could potentially enable attackers to bypass authentication mechanisms, access unauthorized resources, or manipulate application behavior in ways that compromise system integrity. The unknown attack vectors indicate that the specific exploitation techniques may not have been fully documented or understood at the time of reporting, which compounds the risk for affected systems. This type of vulnerability represents a classic example of insecure input handling that can lead to privilege escalation, data leakage, or complete system compromise depending on the application's architecture and the attacker's objectives.
The mitigation strategy for this vulnerability requires immediate action to disable register_globals in the PHP configuration, as this parameter should never be enabled in production environments according to security best practices. Organizations should also implement proper input validation and sanitization mechanisms to ensure that all user-controlled data is properly filtered before being processed. Additionally, the application should be updated to version 0.10 or later where this vulnerability has been addressed. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059 which covers command and scripting interpreter, as attackers may leverage such flaws to execute arbitrary commands through manipulated global variables. The remediation approach should include comprehensive code review to identify all potential global variable usage patterns and ensure proper parameter validation throughout the application codebase.