CVE-2008-3317 in Maian Search
Summary
by MITRE
admin/index.php in Maian Search 1.1 and earlier allows remote attackers to bypass authentication and gain administrative access by sending an arbitrary search_cookie cookie.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/01/2024
The vulnerability described in CVE-2008-3317 represents a critical authentication bypass flaw within the Maian Search 1.1 web application. This issue resides in the admin/index.php component where the application fails to properly validate authentication tokens, allowing unauthorized users to escalate their privileges and gain administrative access to the system. The vulnerability specifically exploits the search_cookie cookie parameter, which should normally contain a legitimate authentication token but can be manipulated by attackers to assume administrative roles.
The technical implementation of this flaw demonstrates a classic case of improper input validation and authentication handling. When the application processes requests to the admin/index.php endpoint, it relies on the search_cookie cookie value to verify user permissions. However, the validation mechanism is insufficiently robust, failing to properly verify the authenticity or integrity of the cookie data. Attackers can simply craft a malicious cookie value that bypasses the normal authentication flow, effectively allowing them to execute administrative functions without proper credentials. This weakness directly violates the principle of least privilege and demonstrates inadequate session management practices.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability creates a severe security risk for any organization using Maian Search 1.1 or earlier versions. Successful exploitation enables attackers to perform administrative actions including but not limited to user account management, content modification, system configuration changes, and potentially data exfiltration. The vulnerability's remote nature means that attackers do not require physical access or local network presence to exploit the flaw, making it particularly dangerous in publicly accessible environments. Organizations may face complete system compromise, data loss, and potential regulatory violations depending on the nature of the data handled by the compromised application.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-287, which addresses improper authentication issues, and demonstrates characteristics consistent with ATT&CK technique T1078 for valid accounts and T1566 for social engineering. Organizations should immediately implement mitigations including upgrading to the latest version of Maian Search, implementing proper cookie validation mechanisms, and deploying web application firewalls to detect and block suspicious cookie manipulation attempts. Additionally, security monitoring should be enhanced to detect unusual administrative access patterns and unauthorized cookie modifications. The fix should include implementing proper cryptographic validation of authentication tokens and ensuring that all administrative functions require robust authentication verification before executing privileged operations.