CVE-2008-5318 in Tikiwiki
Summary
by MITRE
Unspecified vulnerability in Tikiwiki before 2.2 has unknown impact and attack vectors related to "size of user-provided input," a different issue than CVE-2008-3653.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/19/2018
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2008-5318 affects Tikiwiki version 2.2 and earlier, representing an unspecified security flaw that stems from improper handling of user-provided input data. This issue specifically relates to the size of input parameters that users can submit to the application, creating potential attack vectors that differ significantly from the well-documented CVE-2008-3653 vulnerability. The vulnerability falls under the broader category of input validation weaknesses that can lead to various security consequences depending on how the application processes user data. Tikiwiki, being a comprehensive content management system and wiki platform, processes numerous user inputs across its various modules including user registration, content creation, and administrative functions, making it susceptible to exploitation through malformed input handling.
The technical nature of this vulnerability suggests that when users provide input data of excessive size or unusual dimensions, the application fails to properly validate or sanitize these parameters before processing them. This lack of proper input size validation can potentially lead to buffer overflows, memory corruption issues, or other exploitable conditions within the application's processing logic. The unspecified impact indicates that the exact consequences of this vulnerability remain unclear, though such input size-related flaws typically can result in denial of service conditions, unexpected application behavior, or potentially more severe exploits depending on how the application handles the oversized input. The vulnerability's classification as a different issue than CVE-2008-3653 suggests that while both relate to input handling, they affect different code paths or processing mechanisms within the Tikiwiki application.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents significant risks to Tikiwiki installations running versions prior to 2.2, as attackers could potentially exploit the input size handling weaknesses to disrupt service availability or gain unauthorized access to system resources. The attack vectors would likely involve submitting carefully crafted input data that exceeds normal parameter sizes, potentially causing the application to crash, behave unpredictably, or execute unintended code paths. Organizations using Tikiwiki in production environments would face potential service interruption risks, data integrity concerns, and possible unauthorized access scenarios. The vulnerability's impact would be particularly concerning for applications that rely heavily on user-generated content or administrative functions where input validation is critical for maintaining system stability and security. Security teams would need to monitor for potential exploitation attempts and implement immediate mitigations to protect their Tikiwiki installations.
The mitigation strategies for this vulnerability primarily involve upgrading to Tikiwiki version 2.2 or later, where the input size handling issues have been addressed. Organizations should also implement comprehensive input validation measures including size limits for all user-provided data, proper sanitization of input parameters, and monitoring for anomalous input patterns. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-20, which describes "Improper Input Validation" as a fundamental weakness in software design that allows attackers to submit malicious input that can cause unexpected behavior. Additionally, this issue relates to ATT&CK technique T1210, "Exploitation of Remote Services," as it represents a potential entry point for remote attackers to compromise systems through input manipulation. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls and input filtering mechanisms to provide additional layers of protection against similar vulnerabilities in the future. The remediation process should include thorough testing to ensure that the upgrade or patch implementation does not introduce regressions in existing functionality while effectively addressing the input size validation concerns.