CVE-2005-1816 in IP.Board
Summary
by MITRE
invision power board (ipb) 1.0 through 2.0.4 allows non-root admins to add themselves or other users to the root admin group via the "move users in this group to" screen.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/06/2019
The vulnerability described in CVE-2005-1816 represents a critical privilege escalation flaw within Invision Power Board versions 1.0 through 2.0.4. This security weakness allows unauthorized administrative users to elevate their privileges by manipulating the group membership system, specifically through the "move users in this group to" administrative interface. The flaw fundamentally undermines the principle of least privilege by enabling non-root administrators to grant themselves or others access to the highest level of administrative permissions within the forum platform. This vulnerability directly violates security model integrity and creates a pathway for unauthorized access to sensitive system functions.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and access control mechanisms within the administrative user management interface. When administrators attempt to move users between groups through the designated screen, the system fails to properly verify whether the requesting user possesses the necessary authorization levels to perform such operations. The vulnerability specifically affects the group membership modification functionality, where the application does not adequately enforce administrative role boundaries. This type of flaw falls under the category of inadequate access control as defined by CWE-284, which addresses improper access control mechanisms that allow unauthorized users to perform privileged operations.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple privilege escalation, as it creates a persistent security risk that can be exploited by both internal and external threat actors. Once an attacker gains access to a non-root administrative account, they can immediately elevate their privileges to root level without requiring additional authentication or system-level access. This capability significantly amplifies the potential damage from compromised administrative accounts, as it transforms what might be a limited administrative compromise into a complete system takeover. The vulnerability also presents a challenge for security monitoring, as legitimate administrative activities may appear normal while malicious privilege escalation occurs silently in the background.
Organizations using affected Invision Power Board versions should immediately implement comprehensive mitigation strategies to address this vulnerability. The primary recommendation involves applying the vendor-supplied security patches or upgrading to versions that have resolved this privilege escalation flaw. Additionally, administrators should implement strict access control policies, ensuring that only trusted individuals maintain administrative privileges and that all administrative activities are logged and monitored for suspicious behavior. Network segmentation and privilege separation practices should be enhanced to limit the potential impact of compromised administrative accounts. This vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of proper access control implementation and highlights the necessity of regular security assessments to identify and remediate similar privilege escalation vulnerabilities in web applications. The flaw also serves as a reminder of the fundamental security principle that administrative interfaces must maintain strict enforcement of access controls to prevent unauthorized privilege elevation.