CVE-2007-2785 in Esyndicat_pro
Summary
by MITRE
manage-admins.php in eSyndiCat Pro 1.x allows remote attackers to create additional administrative accounts, and have other unspecified impact, via modified username, new_pass, new_pass2, status, super, and certain other parameters in an add action.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/02/2018
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2007-2785 affects eSyndiCat Pro version 1.x and represents a critical authorization bypass flaw in the manage-admins.php administrative interface. This vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and parameter manipulation capabilities within the application's user account management system. Attackers can exploit this weakness by crafting specially formatted requests that modify administrative parameters during the account creation process, effectively bypassing normal access controls and privilege validation mechanisms. The flaw specifically targets the add action functionality where user-supplied parameters including username, new_pass, new_pass2, status, super, and other related fields are not adequately sanitized or validated before being processed by the backend system.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-20, which describes improper input validation, and CWE-264, which covers permissions, privileges, and access controls. The attack vector operates through unvalidated parameter modification where an attacker can manipulate the super parameter to grant administrative privileges to newly created accounts, effectively elevating their access level from regular user to system administrator. This represents a classic privilege escalation vulnerability that can be exploited remotely without requiring authentication to the system. The unspecified impact mentioned in the CVE description suggests that beyond simple account creation, the vulnerability may enable additional unauthorized actions within the administrative interface, potentially including data manipulation, system configuration changes, or access to sensitive administrative functions.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability poses severe risks to organizations using eSyndiCat Pro 1.x as it allows remote attackers to establish persistent administrative access to the system. The impact extends beyond simple account creation to potentially enable complete system compromise, as administrative accounts typically have unrestricted access to all system resources, user data, and configuration settings. The vulnerability's remote exploitability means attackers can leverage this weakness from any location without physical access to the system, making it particularly dangerous for web-based applications. This flaw creates opportunities for data breaches, system hijacking, and unauthorized modifications to the application's operational environment, potentially affecting multiple users and system components.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2007-2785 should focus on implementing robust input validation and parameter sanitization across all administrative interfaces. Organizations should immediately apply the vendor-provided patches or upgrade to supported versions of eSyndiCat Pro that address this vulnerability. The implementation of proper access controls and privilege validation mechanisms should be enforced through strict parameter validation that rejects any unauthorized modifications to administrative parameters. Security measures should include input filtering that prevents manipulation of critical administrative fields such as super status, and comprehensive logging of all administrative account creation activities to detect potential exploitation attempts. Additionally, implementing network segmentation and access controls can limit the potential impact of successful exploitation, while regular security assessments and penetration testing can help identify similar vulnerabilities in other system components. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of following secure coding practices and implementing defense-in-depth strategies to protect against unauthorized privilege escalation attacks.