CVE-2006-5477 in Drupal
Summary
by MITRE
Drupal 4.6.x before 4.6.10 and 4.7.x before 4.7.4 allows form submissions to be redirected, which allows remote attackers to obtain arbitrary form information via a crafted URL.
Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/25/2026
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2006-5477 represents a critical security flaw in the Drupal content management system that affected versions prior to 4.6.10 and 4.7.4. This issue resides within the form handling mechanism of the platform and demonstrates a significant weakness in the application's input validation and redirection controls. The vulnerability specifically targets the way Drupal processes form submission redirects, creating an avenue for malicious actors to manipulate the system's behavior through carefully crafted URLs.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient validation of redirect URLs within Drupal's form processing pipeline. When users submit forms, the system typically redirects them to a specified URL after processing. However, the flawed implementation failed to properly sanitize or validate these redirect parameters, allowing attackers to inject arbitrary URLs that would be executed during form submission. This weakness enables attackers to craft malicious URLs that could redirect users to phishing sites or other malicious destinations while appearing to come from legitimate Drupal forms. The flaw operates at the application layer and does not require authentication, making it particularly dangerous as it can be exploited by anyone with access to the vulnerable system.
The operational impact of CVE-2006-5477 extends beyond simple redirection attacks, as it creates opportunities for more sophisticated social engineering campaigns. Attackers can exploit this vulnerability to harvest form data by redirecting users to malicious sites that mimic legitimate Drupal forms, potentially capturing sensitive information submitted through the vulnerable system. The attack surface includes any Drupal installation running affected versions, making it a widespread concern for organizations relying on the platform. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-601 and CWE-20, representing open redirect vulnerabilities and input validation flaws respectively. From an ATT&CK perspective, this maps to TA0011 (Command and Control) and TA0006 (Credential Access) through the potential for credential harvesting and the establishment of malicious communication channels.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should immediately implement the security patches released by Drupal for versions 4.6.10 and 4.7.4, which address the form redirect validation issue through proper input sanitization. System administrators should also consider implementing additional security measures such as monitoring for unusual redirect patterns in web server logs, implementing web application firewalls to detect malicious URL patterns, and conducting thorough security audits of form handling mechanisms across all Drupal installations. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of input validation in web applications and serves as a reminder of the potential consequences when redirect mechanisms are not properly secured. Organizations should also consider implementing principle of least privilege controls and regular security assessments to prevent similar vulnerabilities from emerging in their web applications.