CVE-2008-5935 in Factosystem Weblog
Summary
by MITRE
Facto stores sensitive information under the web root with insufficient access control, which allows remote attackers to download the database file containing the password via a direct request for database/facto.mdb. NOTE: some of these details are obtained from third party information.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/05/2017
This vulnerability represents a critical misconfiguration issue in the Facto application where sensitive database files are improperly stored within the web root directory without adequate access controls. The flaw stems from inadequate security practices during application deployment, specifically the placement of the Microsoft Access database file facto.mdb in a publicly accessible location. This configuration violates fundamental security principles of least privilege and proper resource isolation, creating an exploitable path for remote attackers to directly access sensitive authentication data.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves the absence of proper access control mechanisms within the web application's directory structure. When the database file is stored under the web root, any user with knowledge of the file path can construct a direct HTTP request to access the database file without authentication. This represents a classic case of insecure direct object reference vulnerability that aligns with CWE-22 (Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory) and CWE-284 (Improper Access Control). The vulnerability allows attackers to bypass normal application authentication flows entirely, directly retrieving the password database through simple URL manipulation.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe as it provides attackers with immediate access to authentication credentials stored within the database. This creates a significant risk for the entire system as the compromised database likely contains user credentials, potentially enabling privilege escalation attacks, lateral movement within the network, and unauthorized access to additional system resources. The vulnerability also violates security standards such as those outlined in the NIST Cybersecurity Framework and can be categorized under the ATT&CK technique T1213.002 (External Remote Services) as it allows unauthorized access through publicly exposed services.
Mitigation strategies should focus on immediate remediation of the file placement issue by moving sensitive database files outside the web root directory and implementing proper access controls. Organizations should establish secure configuration management practices, including regular security audits of deployed applications, implementation of web application firewalls, and enforcement of proper directory permissions. Additionally, the application should be configured to prevent direct file access through web requests and implement proper authentication mechanisms for any database access operations. The remediation process should also include monitoring for unauthorized access attempts and establishing incident response procedures for potential credential compromise scenarios.