CVE-2008-6909 in Services
Summary
by MITRE
Services 5.x before 5.x-0.92 and 6.x before 6.x-0.13, a module for Drupal, does not sign all required data in requests, which has unspecified impact, probably related to man-in-the-middle attacks that modify critical data and allow remote attackers to impersonate other users and gain privileges.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/20/2018
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2008-6909 affects the Services module in Drupal versions 5.x prior to 5.x-0.92 and 6.x prior to 6.x-0.13. This issue represents a significant security flaw that undermines the integrity and authenticity of API communications within the Drupal ecosystem. The Services module serves as a crucial component for enabling web services and RESTful APIs in Drupal installations, making it a prime target for attackers seeking to exploit communication vulnerabilities. The flaw specifically resides in the module's failure to properly sign all required data within requests, creating a window of opportunity for malicious actors to manipulate critical information during transmission.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from inadequate cryptographic signing of request data within the Services module's API framework. When the module processes incoming requests, it fails to sign certain essential data elements that should be protected through digital signatures or similar cryptographic mechanisms. This omission creates a scenario where an attacker positioned between the client and server can intercept communications and modify critical parameters without detection. The vulnerability's impact extends beyond simple data modification, as it enables sophisticated attacks that can result in unauthorized privilege escalation and user impersonation. According to CWE standards, this represents a weakness in cryptographic signature verification where the system fails to validate the integrity of transmitted data, specifically categorized under CWE-310.
The operational implications of this vulnerability are severe for Drupal installations that rely on the Services module for API functionality. Attackers can exploit this weakness to perform man-in-the-middle attacks that allow them to modify critical request parameters such as user permissions, authentication tokens, or resource access controls. The unspecified impact mentioned in the CVE description likely encompasses several attack vectors including privilege escalation, session hijacking, and unauthorized administrative access. This vulnerability particularly affects organizations that depend on Drupal's web services for integration with external applications or for building custom API-driven applications. The attack surface is broadened because the Services module is commonly used in enterprise environments where API security is paramount for maintaining system integrity.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2008-6909 should prioritize immediate patching of affected Drupal installations to the latest available versions that contain the necessary cryptographic signing improvements. Organizations should implement network-level security controls including secure communication protocols such as HTTPS with strong encryption ciphers and certificate validation. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this vulnerability under privilege escalation and credential access techniques, specifically related to man-in-the-middle attacks that leverage weak cryptographic implementations. Security teams should conduct comprehensive vulnerability assessments to identify all instances of the affected Services module versions and ensure that proper input validation and output encoding are implemented. Additionally, implementing network monitoring solutions that can detect unusual API request patterns or unauthorized parameter modifications provides an additional layer of defense against exploitation attempts. Organizations should also review their overall API security posture and consider implementing additional authentication mechanisms beyond what the vulnerable module provides to ensure robust protection against similar vulnerabilities in the future.