CVE-2008-6384 in Comment Mail
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerabilities in Comment Mail 5.x before 5.x-1.1, a module for Drupal, allow remote attackers hijack the authentication of administrators.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/29/2017
The CVE-2008-6384 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw discovered in the Comment Mail module for Drupal versions 5.x prior to 5.x-1.1. This vulnerability exposes web applications to unauthorized administrative actions by enabling remote attackers to manipulate authenticated sessions through crafted requests. The flaw specifically targets the authentication mechanisms within the Drupal content management system, creating a significant security risk for organizations relying on the Comment Mail module for comment management and email notification services. The vulnerability exists due to insufficient validation of request origins and lack of proper anti-CSRF token implementation within the module's form handling processes.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the Comment Mail module's failure to properly verify the source of incoming requests and validate the authenticity of administrative actions. When administrators interact with the module's forms, the system should validate that requests originate from legitimate sources within the same domain and contain appropriate security tokens. However, the vulnerable version of Comment Mail does not implement adequate CSRF protection measures, allowing attackers to craft malicious requests that appear to come from authenticated administrators. This flaw operates at the application layer and leverages the trust relationship between the web application and its authenticated users, making it particularly dangerous as it can be exploited without requiring authentication credentials from the attacker's perspective.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data manipulation to encompass complete administrative compromise of affected Drupal installations. An attacker could potentially perform unauthorized actions such as modifying comment settings, altering email notification configurations, or executing administrative commands through the Comment Mail module interface. This represents a significant threat to the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of web applications, as it allows unauthorized parties to gain elevated privileges within the CMS environment. The vulnerability particularly affects organizations using Drupal 5.x with the Comment Mail module, creating a persistent security risk that could lead to complete system compromise if exploited successfully.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should immediately upgrade to Comment Mail version 5.x-1.1 or later, which includes proper CSRF token validation and request origin verification. Security practitioners should also implement additional protective measures such as network-level firewall rules to restrict access to administrative interfaces, enable comprehensive logging of administrative activities, and conduct regular security assessments of Drupal modules. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery, and maps to ATT&CK technique T1078.004 for Valid Accounts, as it exploits legitimate administrative sessions to perform unauthorized actions. Additionally, this vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper input validation and authentication mechanisms, as outlined in the OWASP Top Ten security principles, and highlights the critical need for regular module updates and security auditing practices within CMS environments.