CVE-2008-6664 in SH-News
Summary
by MITRE
action.php in SH-News 3.0 allows remote attackers to bypass authentication and gain administrator privileges by setting the shuser and shpass cookies to non-zero values.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/28/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2008-6664 resides within the SH-News 3.0 content management system where the action.php script contains a critical authentication bypass flaw. This vulnerability stems from improper validation of user credentials and session management mechanisms that fail to properly verify administrator access rights. The flaw specifically manifests when attackers manipulate cookie values to gain unauthorized administrative access to the system.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability exploits a weak input validation mechanism in the cookie handling process. When the shuser and shpass cookies are set to non-zero values, the system incorrectly assumes these represent valid administrative credentials without proper authentication verification. This represents a classic case of insecure direct object reference and improper access control validation, where the application fails to enforce proper authorization checks before granting administrative privileges. The vulnerability directly maps to CWE-285, which addresses improper authorization in authentication mechanisms, and CWE-346, concerning origin validation failures.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents a severe risk to system security as it allows remote attackers to completely bypass the authentication system and assume full administrative control over the SH-News 3.0 installation. Attackers can exploit this weakness from any location without requiring prior access credentials, making it particularly dangerous for web applications that handle sensitive data or user information. The impact extends beyond simple unauthorized access to include potential data breaches, system compromise, and complete loss of administrative control over the affected platform.
The mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on implementing proper cookie validation and authentication mechanisms. System administrators should immediately upgrade to a patched version of SH-News 3.0 or implement custom fixes that validate cookie values against legitimate user accounts before granting administrative privileges. Additionally, organizations should deploy web application firewalls to monitor and block suspicious cookie manipulation attempts. The remediation process should include thorough code review to ensure proper authentication flow implementation and enforcement of principle of least privilege. This vulnerability also highlights the importance of following ATT&CK framework techniques related to credential access and privilege escalation, where adversaries exploit authentication bypasses to gain elevated system access. Organizations should implement comprehensive monitoring solutions that detect unusual cookie patterns and unauthorized administrative access attempts to prevent exploitation of similar vulnerabilities in the future.