CVE-2008-2571 in LimeSurvey
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in LimeSurvey (formerly PHPSurveyor) before 1.71 allows remote attackers to change arbitrary quotas as administrators via a "modify quota" action.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/25/2018
The CVE-2008-2571 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw in LimeSurvey, a widely-used web-based survey application that was formerly known as PHPSurveyor. This vulnerability existed in versions prior to 1.71 and specifically targeted the administrative functionality of the application, allowing remote attackers to manipulate survey quotas without proper authentication. The flaw resides in the application's failure to implement proper CSRF protection mechanisms for administrative actions, creating a significant security risk for organizations relying on LimeSurvey for data collection and survey management.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from the absence of anti-CSRF tokens or similar validation mechanisms within the "modify quota" functionality of LimeSurvey's administrative interface. When administrators performed quota modifications, the application did not verify that the request originated from a legitimate administrative session. Attackers could craft malicious web pages or exploit existing vulnerabilities in other parts of the application to trick authenticated administrators into executing unintended quota modification actions. This flaw operates under CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery vulnerabilities where applications fail to validate the origin of requests. The vulnerability allows attackers to manipulate survey quotas, which can have cascading effects on data integrity and survey administration.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple quota manipulation, as it provides attackers with the ability to compromise the integrity of survey data and potentially disrupt survey operations. Administrators who were logged into LimeSurvey could unknowingly execute malicious quota changes when visiting compromised websites or clicking on malicious links, especially in environments where users frequently browse untrusted web content. The consequences include potential data manipulation, unauthorized access to survey results, and disruption of survey administration processes. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566.002, which covers the exploitation of web applications through CSRF attacks, and represents a significant threat to organizations relying on LimeSurvey for sensitive data collection.
Organizations should immediately upgrade to LimeSurvey version 1.71 or later, which includes proper CSRF protection mechanisms. The fix typically involves implementing anti-CSRF tokens that are validated on each administrative action, ensuring that requests originate from legitimate administrative sessions. Additional mitigations include implementing proper input validation, session management controls, and network-level protections such as web application firewalls that can detect and block CSRF attempts. Security teams should also conduct regular vulnerability assessments of web applications and ensure proper security controls are in place to prevent similar issues in other applications. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of implementing proper authentication and authorization controls for administrative functions, particularly in applications handling sensitive survey data and user information.