CVE-2008-2346 in AlkalinePHP
Summary
by MITRE
AlkalinePHP 0.77.35 and earlier allows remote attackers to bypass authentication and gain administrative access by creating an admin account via a direct request to adduser.php.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/24/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2008-2346 represents a critical authentication bypass flaw in AlkalinePHP versions 0.77.35 and earlier. This issue stems from improper access control mechanisms within the application's user management system, specifically in the adduser.php component that handles administrative account creation. The flaw allows remote attackers to directly manipulate the application's authentication flow by crafting specific HTTP requests to the adduser.php endpoint, effectively circumventing the normal user registration and administrative approval processes that should normally prevent unauthorized account creation with elevated privileges.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability exploits a fundamental weakness in the application's input validation and privilege management systems. When an attacker sends a direct request to adduser.php without proper authentication or authorization checks, the application fails to verify whether the request originates from an authenticated administrator or if the requested user type is appropriately authorized for administrative access. This represents a classic case of insufficient authorization checks that falls under CWE-285, which addresses improper authorization within software systems. The vulnerability's impact is amplified by the fact that it allows for privilege escalation from regular user status to full administrative control, providing attackers with complete access to the application's administrative functions.
From an operational standpoint, this vulnerability presents a severe risk to organizations relying on AlkalinePHP for their web applications, particularly those using older versions that have not received security updates. The remote nature of the attack means that adversaries can exploit this flaw from anywhere on the internet without requiring physical access to the system or knowledge of valid credentials. This makes the vulnerability particularly dangerous as it can be exploited by automated scanning tools and botnets, potentially leading to widespread compromise of web applications that have not been patched. The flaw essentially removes the application's ability to enforce proper access controls, allowing unauthorized individuals to create administrative accounts and subsequently gain complete control over the application's functionality, user data, and system resources.
The mitigation strategy for this vulnerability involves immediate patching of the AlkalinePHP application to a version that properly implements authentication and authorization checks within the adduser.php component. Organizations should also implement network-level protections such as web application firewalls that can detect and block suspicious requests to administrative endpoints, particularly those that attempt to create accounts with elevated privileges. Additionally, the principle of least privilege should be enforced by ensuring that administrative endpoints are not directly accessible from the public internet and that proper authentication mechanisms are in place before any administrative operations can be performed. This vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of proper access control implementation and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1078 which covers valid accounts and credential access, highlighting how improper privilege management can lead to unauthorized administrative access. Organizations should also conduct thorough security assessments to identify similar authorization flaws in other components of their web applications and ensure that all user management functions properly validate both authentication and authorization contexts before performing privileged operations.