CVE-2008-6232 in Pre Shopping Mall
Summary
by MITRE
Pre Shopping Mall allows remote attackers to bypass authentication and gain administrative access by setting the (1) adminname and the (2) adminid cookies to "admin".
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/10/2024
This vulnerability exists in the Pre Shopping Mall application where remote attackers can exploit a weak authentication mechanism to gain administrative privileges. The flaw stems from improper validation of administrative credentials within the cookie-based authentication system, allowing unauthorized users to manipulate session identifiers to assume admin roles. The vulnerability specifically targets the adminname and adminid cookie parameters, which when set to the value "admin" enable unauthorized access to administrative functions. This represents a classic case of insufficient authentication checks and weak session management practices that directly violates security principles outlined in the OWASP Top Ten. The vulnerability allows for privilege escalation from regular user to administrator level access, potentially enabling attackers to modify application settings, access sensitive data, and perform administrative operations without proper authorization.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability demonstrates a critical flaw in the application's security architecture where cookie values are not properly validated against legitimate administrative credentials. Attackers can simply manipulate browser cookies to include adminname=admin and adminid=admin, bypassing all normal authentication procedures and gaining immediate administrative access to the system. This type of vulnerability falls under the category of weak session management and improper authentication validation, which are commonly classified under CWE-287 for improper authentication and CWE-306 for missing authentication. The vulnerability represents a serious design flaw in the application's access control mechanisms and demonstrates poor security implementation practices that violate fundamental security principles.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe as it provides attackers with complete administrative control over the Pre Shopping Mall application. Once exploited, attackers can modify or delete user accounts, access confidential customer information, alter product listings, modify pricing structures, and potentially compromise the entire application infrastructure. The vulnerability can be exploited from any location without requiring physical access or prior knowledge of valid credentials, making it particularly dangerous. This type of privilege escalation vulnerability can lead to data breaches, financial losses, and reputational damage for organizations using the affected software. The ease of exploitation and the high-impact consequences make this vulnerability particularly attractive to malicious actors, as it requires no sophisticated tools or extensive reconnaissance efforts.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on implementing robust authentication mechanisms that properly validate administrative credentials and do not rely on simple cookie manipulation. Organizations should implement proper session management practices including secure session identifiers, server-side session validation, and proper authentication token handling. The application should validate administrative privileges on every administrative function call rather than relying on client-side cookie values. Security measures should include implementing proper access control lists, using multi-factor authentication for administrative functions, and ensuring that session management follows industry standards such as those outlined in the OWASP Session Management Cheat Sheet. Additionally, regular security testing including penetration testing and code reviews should be conducted to identify and remediate similar authentication bypass vulnerabilities. The fix should involve server-side validation of administrative credentials and the implementation of proper authentication controls that cannot be bypassed through simple cookie manipulation as recommended by ATT&CK technique T1548.003 for abuse of privileges.