CVE-2006-6464 in Midicart Php Shopping Cart
Summary
by MITRE
viewcart in Midicart accepts negative numbers in the Qty (quantity) field, which allows remote attackers to obtain a smaller total price for a shopping cart.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/03/2017
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2006-6464 affects the Midicart shopping cart system where the viewcart functionality permits negative values in the quantity field. This represents a classic input validation flaw that undermines the integrity of the e-commerce transaction process. The issue stems from inadequate sanitization of user inputs within the web application's cart management component, specifically in how it processes quantity parameters during shopping cart operations.
This vulnerability operates through a straightforward exploitation mechanism where remote attackers can manipulate the quantity field by entering negative numbers. When the system processes these negative values, it incorrectly calculates the total cart value by subtracting rather than adding quantities, resulting in artificially reduced pricing. The flaw essentially allows malicious users to manipulate the final checkout amount, potentially enabling unauthorized price reduction of purchased items.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple pricing manipulation, as it represents a significant financial risk for e-commerce platforms. Attackers could exploit this weakness to obtain substantial discounts or even negative pricing scenarios, leading to direct monetary losses for businesses. The vulnerability affects the core commerce functionality and could potentially be combined with other exploits to create more complex attack vectors. This issue directly violates the principle of input validation and demonstrates poor security practices in web application development, particularly in financial transaction processing systems.
From a cybersecurity perspective, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-191, which addresses integer underflow conditions, and could potentially map to ATT&CK techniques related to privilege escalation and financial fraud. The vulnerability's remote nature means that attackers do not require physical access or elevated privileges to exploit it, making it particularly dangerous. Organizations using Midicart or similar systems face exposure to unauthorized financial transactions and potential revenue loss. The flaw represents a fundamental breakdown in the application's data validation mechanisms and highlights the critical importance of proper input sanitization in commerce applications.
Mitigation strategies should focus on implementing robust input validation measures that explicitly reject negative numbers in quantity fields. The system should enforce business logic constraints that prevent quantity values from being less than zero, while also implementing proper error handling and transaction validation. Organizations should conduct comprehensive code reviews to identify similar vulnerabilities in other input fields and implement automated testing for input validation. Additionally, logging and monitoring should be enhanced to detect unusual transaction patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts, ensuring that any manipulation of pricing or quantities is properly tracked and investigated.