CVE-2007-5595 in drupal
Summary
by MITRE
CRLF injection vulnerability in the drupal_goto function in includes/common.inc Drupal 4.7.x before 4.7.8 and 5.x before 5.3 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary HTTP headers and conduct HTTP response splitting attacks via unspecified vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/29/2019
The CVE-2007-5595 vulnerability represents a critical CRLF injection flaw in Drupal's core functionality that fundamentally compromised the integrity of HTTP response handling. This vulnerability specifically targeted the drupal_goto function located in the includes/common.inc file, affecting Drupal versions 4.7.x prior to 4.7.8 and 5.x prior to 5.3. The issue stems from inadequate input validation and sanitization of user-supplied data that flows directly into HTTP header generation, creating a pathway for malicious actors to inject arbitrary HTTP headers into responses. The vulnerability operates at the intersection of CWE-113, which addresses improper neutralization of CRLF characters in HTTP headers, and represents a classic example of HTTP response splitting attacks that have been documented in various security frameworks including the OWASP Top Ten. The flaw essentially allows an attacker to manipulate the HTTP response by injecting carriage return line feed sequences that can alter the header structure, potentially enabling session hijacking, cross-site scripting, or cache poisoning attacks.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs when user input containing CRLF sequences is processed through the drupal_goto function without proper sanitization. This function is responsible for redirecting users within the Drupal framework, and when it processes untrusted input in redirect parameters, it fails to properly escape or validate these sequences. Attackers can leverage this weakness by crafting malicious URLs or form submissions that contain encoded CRLF characters, typically represented as %0d%0a in URL encoding, which when processed by the vulnerable function result in injection of additional HTTP headers. The impact extends beyond simple header manipulation as it can lead to more sophisticated attacks where attackers inject malicious headers that could redirect users to phishing sites, inject malicious content, or manipulate browser behavior through cache poisoning techniques. This vulnerability demonstrates a fundamental flaw in input validation and output encoding practices that should be addressed at the application level according to secure coding guidelines and security standards such as those outlined in the CERT/CC secure coding practices.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is substantial for any Drupal installation running the affected versions, as it provides remote attackers with the capability to manipulate HTTP responses without requiring authentication or specific privileges. Organizations running vulnerable Drupal systems face risks including unauthorized redirection of users to malicious sites, session fixation or hijacking attacks, and potential data exfiltration through manipulated HTTP headers. The vulnerability's exploitation does not require complex attack vectors or specific user interaction beyond normal web browsing activities, making it particularly dangerous for widespread deployment. Security professionals should note that this vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1190 for exploit public-facing application, and represents a common attack surface in web application security that requires proper input validation and output encoding. The risk assessment for this vulnerability is elevated due to its potential for enabling cascading attacks that could compromise entire web applications or user sessions. Organizations should immediately implement mitigations including updating to patched versions, implementing proper input validation, and monitoring for signs of exploitation attempts, as the vulnerability has been widely documented and exploited in the wild since its disclosure. The remediation process involves not only applying the official Drupal security patches but also reviewing and strengthening the application's overall input validation mechanisms to prevent similar vulnerabilities from emerging in other components of the system.