CVE-2006-1267 in IP.Board
Summary
by MITRE
Invision Power Board 2.1.4 allows remote attackers to hijack sessions and possibly gain administrative privileges by obtaining the session ID from the s parameter, then replaying it in another request.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/09/2017
The vulnerability described in CVE-2006-1267 affects Invision Power Board version 2.1.4, a popular web-based forum software that was widely used in enterprise and community environments during the mid-2000s. This security flaw represents a critical session management weakness that undermines the fundamental security mechanisms of the application. The vulnerability specifically targets the session handling implementation within the software's authentication system, creating a pathway for unauthorized users to assume legitimate user identities and potentially escalate privileges to administrative levels.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability revolves around the improper handling of session identifiers within the software's s parameter. When users authenticate to the Invision Power Board system, the application generates a session ID that should remain unique and time-bound to maintain secure access control. However, in version 2.1.4, attackers can capture this session identifier from the s parameter through various means such as network traffic analysis, log file inspection, or direct observation of URL parameters. The flaw lies in the application's failure to implement proper session validation mechanisms, allowing the captured session ID to be reused by an attacker in subsequent requests without proper authentication verification.
This vulnerability directly maps to CWE-613, which addresses Insufficient Session Expiration, and also relates to CWE-306, which covers Missing Authentication for Critical Function. The operational impact of this flaw is severe as it enables session hijacking attacks that can be executed remotely without requiring any special privileges or authentication credentials from the attacker. Once an attacker successfully captures a valid session ID, they can impersonate the legitimate user, potentially accessing restricted areas of the forum, posting malicious content, modifying user accounts, or gaining administrative access if the captured session belongs to an administrator. The attack vector is particularly dangerous because it can be performed entirely through network-based reconnaissance and replay techniques without requiring any server-side exploitation or code injection.
The security implications extend beyond simple session hijacking to encompass potential privilege escalation scenarios. If the targeted session belongs to an administrator account, the attacker could gain complete control over the forum's configuration, user management, content moderation, and other administrative functions. This vulnerability also violates fundamental security principles outlined in the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, particularly the identification and protection phases, as it allows unauthorized access to protected resources without proper authentication mechanisms. The attack can be executed using standard network sniffing tools or manual observation, making it accessible to attackers with minimal technical expertise and increasing the attack surface significantly.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should include implementing robust session management practices such as generating cryptographically secure session identifiers, implementing proper session validation with user agent checking, and enforcing session timeouts. Organizations should also implement secure session handling mechanisms that bind sessions to specific IP addresses or user agent strings to prevent session replay attacks. The software should be updated to versions that address this specific vulnerability, and administrators should implement network monitoring to detect suspicious session ID usage patterns. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing additional authentication layers such as multi-factor authentication to provide defense-in-depth against session hijacking attacks, as recommended by the MITRE ATT&CK framework's credential access tactics. The vulnerability serves as a classic example of why proper session management and authentication mechanisms are critical components of secure web application design, particularly in environments where sensitive user data and administrative functions are handled.