CVE-2007-6087 in VigileCMS
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in index.php in VigileCMS 1.4 allows remote attackers to change the admin password via certain parameters to the changepass module.
Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/11/2024
The CVE-2007-6087 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw discovered in VigileCMS version 1.4, specifically within the index.php file that governs the changepass module functionality. This vulnerability exposes the content management system to unauthorized administrative access through a well-known web application security weakness that has been documented extensively in cybersecurity literature. The flaw allows remote attackers to manipulate the password change mechanism without proper authentication, effectively enabling privilege escalation attacks against the system's administrative interface.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the absence of proper validation mechanisms within the changepass module's parameter handling. When legitimate administrative users navigate to the password change interface, the application fails to implement anti-CSRF tokens or other sufficient protections to verify that requests originate from authorized sources. Attackers can exploit this by crafting malicious web pages or email attachments that automatically submit requests to the vulnerable CMS endpoint, thereby executing unauthorized password changes without knowledge of the current administrative credentials. This weakness aligns with CWE-352, which specifically categorizes cross-site request forgery vulnerabilities as those that permit unauthorized commands to be executed on behalf of authenticated users.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple credential theft, as it fundamentally undermines the security model of the CMS platform. An attacker who successfully exploits this flaw can assume complete administrative control over the website, potentially leading to data breaches, defacement, unauthorized content modification, and complete system compromise. The vulnerability affects the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the web application, as unauthorized parties can manipulate user accounts, alter content, and potentially use the compromised administrative access for further reconnaissance and lateral movement within network environments. This particular flaw demonstrates how seemingly minor implementation gaps in authentication flows can create significant security risks that persist even in well-established content management systems.
Organizations utilizing VigileCMS 1.4 should immediately implement mitigations including the deployment of anti-CSRF tokens within all administrative interfaces, implementation of proper session management controls, and thorough code review processes to identify similar vulnerabilities. The solution typically involves adding unique, unpredictable tokens to each user session that must be validated before any privileged operations can be executed. Security practitioners should also consider implementing web application firewalls that can detect and block suspicious patterns of cross-site request forgery attempts. This vulnerability serves as a prime example of why adherence to secure coding practices and regular vulnerability assessments remain essential components of any comprehensive cybersecurity program, as documented in various ATT&CK framework techniques related to privilege escalation and credential access. The remediation process should include immediate patching of the affected CMS version and implementation of proper input validation controls to ensure that all administrative functions require explicit user consent and proper authentication verification before execution.