CVE-2006-7016 in phpjobboard
Summary
by MITRE
phpjobboard allows remote attackers to bypass authentication and gain administrator privileges via a direct request to admin.php with adminop=job-edit.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/08/2017
The vulnerability described in CVE-2006-7016 represents a critical authentication bypass flaw within the phpjobboard web application that enables remote attackers to escalate their privileges without proper authorization. This issue stems from insufficient input validation and access control mechanisms within the application's administrative interface, specifically affecting the admin.php script that handles administrative operations. The vulnerability manifests when an attacker can directly access the admin.php endpoint with the parameter adminop=job-edit, which should typically require proper authentication and administrative privileges to execute.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-285, which addresses insufficient authorization in software applications. The flaw occurs because the application fails to properly verify whether the requesting user possesses the necessary administrative credentials before allowing access to privileged operations. This represents a classic case of broken access control where the system assumes that legitimate administrative functions can be accessed directly without proper authentication checks. The vulnerability exists at the application logic level where the system does not adequately validate user permissions or session state before executing administrative commands.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability creates a severe risk for organizations using phpjobboard as their job posting platform. An attacker who discovers this vulnerability can gain full administrative control over the application, potentially leading to complete system compromise. The impact extends beyond simple privilege escalation as administrators can modify job listings, delete content, access sensitive user data, and potentially modify system configurations. This vulnerability directly maps to ATT&CK technique T1078 which covers legitimate credentials and T1484 which covers abuse of credentials for privilege escalation.
The attack vector for this vulnerability is straightforward and exploitable by remote attackers without requiring any special privileges or local access. Attackers can simply construct a URL with the specific parameters admin.php?adminop=job-edit and submit it directly to the target system, bypassing the normal login process entirely. This makes the vulnerability particularly dangerous as it can be exploited by automated scanning tools and does not require any social engineering or complex attack chains. The vulnerability affects the entire phpjobboard application and any version that fails to properly implement access controls for administrative functions.
Mitigation strategies should focus on implementing proper input validation and access control checks within the application. The most effective solution involves adding comprehensive authentication verification before allowing any administrative operations to execute, including checking session validity, user roles, and permission levels. Implementing proper access control lists and ensuring that all administrative endpoints require valid authentication tokens or session management would prevent this vulnerability. Additionally, the application should enforce proper authorization checks for each administrative function, ensuring that only users with appropriate privileges can execute specific operations. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls to monitor and block suspicious direct access attempts to administrative endpoints. The vulnerability highlights the importance of following secure coding practices and implementing defense-in-depth strategies to protect against authentication bypass attacks.