CVE-2004-2653 in MegaBBS
Summary
by MITRE
Unspecified vulnerability in PD9 Software MegaBBS 2.0 and 2.1 allows attackers to gain privileges via unknown vectors involving (1) admin/userlevelmembers-edit.asp and (2) admin/edit-groups.asp.
If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/30/2018
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2004-2653 affects PD9 Software MegaBBS versions 2.0 and 2.1, representing a critical access control flaw that could enable unauthorized privilege escalation. This unspecified vulnerability manifests through two specific administrative interface endpoints: admin/userlevelmembers-edit.asp and admin/edit-groups.asp, which together create a pathway for attackers to manipulate user permissions and group memberships within the bulletin board system. The flaw resides in the application's inadequate input validation and authorization controls, allowing malicious actors to bypass normal security restrictions that should prevent unauthorized modifications to administrative functions.
The technical nature of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-284, which describes improper access control mechanisms in software applications, and potentially CWE-285, covering improper authorization scenarios. Attackers exploiting this weakness could potentially elevate their privileges from regular user status to administrative levels, gaining complete control over the bulletin board system. The vulnerability's impact is particularly severe because it targets administrative functions that govern user permissions and group memberships, directly affecting the system's core security model. This type of flaw represents a fundamental breakdown in the application's security architecture where proper authentication and authorization checks fail to validate user privileges before permitting access to sensitive administrative functions.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability creates a significant risk for organizations relying on MegaBBS for their communication infrastructure. The attack surface is particularly concerning as it allows for privilege escalation without requiring specific technical knowledge of the underlying system architecture. Once exploited, attackers could modify user permissions, create new administrative accounts, or manipulate group memberships to gain persistent access to the system. The vulnerability's presence in both user level member editing and group management functions suggests a systemic weakness in the application's access control implementation, where the same authorization flaw exists across multiple administrative interfaces.
The exploitation of this vulnerability would typically involve crafting malicious requests to the identified administrative endpoints, potentially leveraging techniques such as parameter manipulation or session hijacking to bypass normal access controls. Security professionals should consider this issue in the context of the MITRE ATT&CK framework, particularly under the privilege escalation and defense evasion tactics. Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including input validation controls, proper authorization checks, and access logging for all administrative functions. The vulnerability underscores the importance of regular security assessments and the need for robust access control mechanisms in web applications. Given the age of the affected software version, organizations should prioritize migrating to supported platforms or implementing additional security controls such as web application firewalls to protect against exploitation attempts targeting these specific administrative interfaces.