CVE-2005-1226 in Photo Gallery
Summary
by MITRE
Coppermine Photo Gallery 1.3.2 stores passwords in plaintext, which allows remote attackers to obtain sensitive information.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/10/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2005-1226 affects Coppermine Photo Gallery version 1.3.2, a widely used open-source web application for managing and displaying photo galleries. This security flaw represents a critical configuration issue that fundamentally undermines the application's ability to protect user credentials. The vulnerability specifically resides in the application's password storage mechanism, where user authentication credentials are persisted in plaintext format rather than being properly hashed or encrypted. This design flaw creates an inherent security weakness that directly violates established security best practices for credential management.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from the application's failure to employ proper cryptographic techniques for password storage. When users create accounts or update their passwords within the Coppermine Photo Gallery system, the application stores these credentials without any form of hashing or encryption. This plaintext storage approach means that anyone with access to the application's database or file system can directly read password values without requiring additional cracking or decryption processes. The flaw operates at the application logic level, where the password handling routines fail to implement industry-standard security measures such as bcrypt, scrypt, or even basic salted hashing mechanisms that would make password recovery significantly more difficult for unauthorized parties.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends far beyond simple credential exposure, as it creates multiple attack vectors for malicious actors seeking to compromise user accounts and the overall system. Remote attackers who gain access to the database or file system can immediately extract all user passwords in readable format, enabling them to perform account takeover attacks, access restricted content, and potentially escalate privileges within the application. This vulnerability directly maps to CWE-312, which specifically addresses the exposure of sensitive information through improper storage of credentials. The attack surface is particularly concerning given that Coppermine Photo Gallery was often deployed in environments where it might be accessible to unauthenticated users or where database access might be compromised through other vulnerabilities.
The security implications of this vulnerability align with ATT&CK framework technique T1566, which focuses on credential harvesting through various methods including database access and credential dumping. Attackers can leverage this weakness to obtain administrative credentials, potentially gaining full control over the photo gallery system and its associated content. The exposure of plaintext passwords also enables attackers to conduct credential reuse attacks against users who may have used the same passwords across multiple systems. This vulnerability represents a fundamental failure in the principle of least privilege and demonstrates poor security engineering practices that were common in web applications of that era, particularly regarding authentication and authorization mechanisms.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate implementation of proper password hashing mechanisms within the Coppermine Photo Gallery application. Organizations should upgrade to newer versions of the application that address this specific flaw, as version 1.3.2 is no longer supported and contains multiple security vulnerabilities. The recommended approach involves implementing strong cryptographic hashing algorithms such as bcrypt or PBKDF2 with appropriate salt values to ensure that even if database access is compromised, password recovery becomes computationally infeasible for attackers. Additionally, system administrators should conduct thorough security audits to identify and remediate other potential vulnerabilities within the application and its hosting environment. The implementation of additional security controls such as secure database access permissions, regular security updates, and monitoring for unauthorized access attempts would further reduce the risk of exploitation. Organizations should also consider implementing multi-factor authentication mechanisms to provide additional layers of security beyond password-based authentication.