CVE-2008-4427 in Personal Information Manager
Summary
by MITRE
changepassword.php in Phlatline s Personal Information Manager (pPIM) 1.0 and earlier does not require administrative authentication, which allows remote attackers to change arbitrary passwords.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/03/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2008-4427 resides within the changepassword.php component of Phlatline s Personal Information Manager version 1.0 and earlier. This represents a critical authentication bypass flaw that fundamentally undermines the security posture of the application. The vulnerability specifically affects the password change functionality, which should inherently require administrative privileges to operate. However, due to the absence of proper authentication checks, any remote attacker can exploit this weakness to modify user passwords without authorization. This flaw directly violates fundamental security principles of access control and privilege management within web applications.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from the lack of administrative authentication verification within the changepassword.php script. When users attempt to change passwords through this interface, the application fails to validate whether the requesting user possesses the necessary administrative credentials. This absence of authentication enforcement creates an unauthenticated attack vector that allows malicious actors to manipulate the password change process. The flaw operates at the application logic level, where proper authorization controls should exist but are completely missing. According to CWE classification, this vulnerability maps to CWE-285: Improper Authorization, which specifically addresses situations where the application fails to properly enforce access controls for privileged operations. The weakness manifests as a complete breakdown in the authentication mechanism, allowing unauthorized access to administrative functions.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and far-reaching within the context of personal information management systems. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability can gain unauthorized access to any user account within the pPIM system by simply changing their passwords. This creates a persistent backdoor that can be used for ongoing unauthorized access to sensitive personal information including contacts, calendar entries, and other private data stored within the application. The remote nature of the attack means that exploitation can occur from any location without requiring physical access to the system or network. This vulnerability essentially provides attackers with a powerful privilege escalation mechanism that allows them to compromise the entire user base of the application. From an adversarial perspective, this flaw aligns with ATT&CK technique T1078.004: Valid Accounts, where attackers leverage legitimate administrative privileges to maintain persistent access to target systems.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate implementation of proper authentication controls within the changepassword.php script. The primary fix involves implementing robust administrative authentication checks that verify user credentials before allowing any password modification operations. This includes validating session tokens, checking user roles, and ensuring that only authorized administrative accounts can access the password change functionality. Organizations should also implement proper input validation and sanitization to prevent potential injection attacks that could compound the vulnerability. The fix should include comprehensive logging of all password change attempts to enable detection of unauthorized access. Additionally, implementing rate limiting and account lockout mechanisms can help prevent brute force attacks targeting the password change functionality. Security hardening measures should also include regular security assessments and code reviews to identify similar authentication bypass vulnerabilities within the application. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of proper access control implementation and serves as a reminder of the need for comprehensive security testing throughout the software development lifecycle.