CVE-2005-4458 in Portal Server
Summary
by MITRE
Group.pm in Metadot Portal Server 6.4.4 and earlier does not properly reset the $IS_OWNER, $IS_ADMIN, and $IS_MANAGER global variables when performing checks for special privileges, which allows users to gain administrator privileges by adding themselves to the SITE_MGR group.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/04/2017
The vulnerability described in CVE-2005-4458 represents a critical privilege escalation flaw within the Metadot Portal Server software ecosystem. This issue resides in the Group.pm component which serves as a fundamental access control module responsible for managing user permissions and group memberships. The vulnerability stems from improper variable management during privilege validation processes, creating a persistent security weakness that directly impacts the server's ability to enforce proper access controls. The flaw specifically affects versions 6.4.4 and earlier, indicating this was a long-standing issue that had not been adequately addressed in the software lifecycle.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability lies in the failure to properly reset global variables $IS_OWNER, $IS_ADMIN, and $IS_MANAGER within the Group.pm module. These variables serve as critical flags that determine user privileges within the portal server environment. When privilege checks are performed, these variables should be explicitly reset to their default state after each validation cycle to prevent carryover effects between different user authentication scenarios. However, the flawed implementation allows these variables to retain their previous values, enabling attackers to manipulate the privilege checking mechanism through strategic group membership modifications.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and directly enables unauthorized privilege escalation attacks. An attacker who gains access to a regular user account can exploit this flaw by simply adding themselves to the SITE_MGR group, thereby automatically elevating their privileges to administrator level. This bypasses the normal authentication and authorization procedures that should prevent such privilege increases. The vulnerability essentially creates a backdoor path where any user can gain full administrative control over the portal server, potentially leading to complete system compromise, data exfiltration, and unauthorized modifications to the server configuration and content management systems.
From a cybersecurity perspective, this vulnerability maps directly to CWE-284, which describes improper access control mechanisms in software systems. The flaw represents a classic case of insufficient privilege management and variable state handling within a security-critical component. Additionally, this issue aligns with ATT&CK technique T1078 which covers valid accounts and legitimate credentials for lateral movement and privilege escalation. The vulnerability demonstrates how poor programming practices in access control modules can create persistent security weaknesses that attackers can exploit without requiring advanced technical skills or specialized tools. Organizations running affected versions of Metadot Portal Server face significant risk of unauthorized access and potential system compromise, making immediate remediation essential.
The recommended mitigations for this vulnerability include immediate patching of the Metadot Portal Server to a version that properly addresses the variable reset functionality in Group.pm. System administrators should also implement additional monitoring and access control measures to detect unauthorized group membership changes. The vulnerability underscores the importance of proper state management in security-critical code modules and highlights the necessity of thorough code reviews focusing on privilege handling and variable lifecycle management. Organizations should conduct comprehensive security assessments of their portal server configurations and implement principle of least privilege practices to minimize the impact of similar vulnerabilities in their environments.