CVE-2008-6949 in Collabtive
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerabilities in Collabtive 0.4.8 allow remote attackers to hijack the authentication of administrators for requests that (1) submit or edit a new project, or (2) upload files to a project, or (3) attach files to messages via unknown vectors. NOTE: these issues can be leveraged with other vulnerabilities to create remote attack vectors that do not require authentication.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/10/2024
The CVE-2008-6949 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw affecting Collabtive version 0.4.8, a web-based project management application. This vulnerability stems from insufficient anti-CSRF protection mechanisms within the application's authentication framework, creating a significant security weakness that can be exploited by remote attackers without requiring prior authentication credentials. The flaw specifically targets administrative functions within the application, making it particularly dangerous as it could enable attackers to gain elevated privileges and execute unauthorized administrative actions.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability occurs through the absence of proper validation mechanisms for requests originating from authenticated administrative sessions. Attackers can craft malicious requests that appear to come from legitimate administrative users, exploiting the application's failure to verify the authenticity of request sources. The vulnerability manifests in three primary attack vectors: project creation and modification operations, file upload functionalities within project contexts, and message attachment capabilities. These vectors represent core administrative functions that, when compromised, can lead to complete system compromise. The vulnerability's classification aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery weaknesses in web applications, where the application fails to validate that requests originate from legitimate authenticated users.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple unauthorized access, as it creates a pathway for attackers to escalate privileges and execute arbitrary administrative commands. When combined with other vulnerabilities present in the system, these CSRF flaws can be leveraged to establish persistent attack vectors that bypass normal authentication mechanisms entirely. The vulnerability's exploitation potential is particularly concerning because it allows attackers to perform actions that require administrative privileges without possessing valid credentials, effectively creating a backdoor into the application's administrative interface. This capability enables attackers to modify project configurations, upload malicious files, or manipulate message attachments in ways that could compromise the entire application environment.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2008-6949 should focus on implementing robust anti-CSRF protection mechanisms throughout the application's administrative functions. The most effective approach involves deploying unique, unpredictable tokens for each user session that must be validated on every state-changing request, a technique that directly addresses the CWE-352 classification. Organizations should also implement proper request origin validation, ensure session management controls are properly enforced, and establish comprehensive monitoring for suspicious administrative activities. Additionally, the vulnerability's exploitation can be mitigated through regular security updates, network segmentation to limit access to administrative functions, and implementing web application firewalls that can detect and block malicious CSRF attempts. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this vulnerability under the T1566 technique for "Phishing with Malicious Attachments" and T1078 for "Valid Accounts," as attackers can leverage these flaws to establish persistent access and maintain control over compromised administrative sessions.