CVE-2008-7086 in Maian Greetings
Summary
by MITRE
Maian Greetings 2.1 allows remote attackers to bypass authentication and gain administrative privileges by setting the mecard_admin_cookie cookie to admin.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/01/2024
The vulnerability described in CVE-2008-7086 represents a critical authentication bypass flaw in Maian Greetings version 2.1 that directly compromises the security posture of affected systems. This issue stems from improper session management and authentication mechanisms within the web application, allowing unauthorized users to escalate their privileges without legitimate credentials. The vulnerability specifically targets the administrative access control system, enabling attackers to assume full administrative rights by manipulating a single cookie value.
The technical implementation of this flaw involves the application's reliance on client-side cookie values for authentication decisions rather than proper server-side session validation. When an attacker sets the mecard_admin_cookie cookie to the value admin, the application incorrectly interprets this as valid administrative authorization, bypassing all legitimate authentication checks. This represents a classic case of insecure direct object reference vulnerability where the application fails to validate the legitimacy of the administrative cookie value before granting access. The flaw operates at the application logic level, specifically within the authentication module, and demonstrates poor input validation and access control implementation.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and far-reaching, as it provides complete administrative control over the affected Maian Greetings installation. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability can perform any administrative function including but not limited to user management, content modification, system configuration changes, data exfiltration, and potential lateral movement within the network. The vulnerability's remote nature means that attackers do not require physical access or network proximity to exploit the flaw, making it particularly dangerous in web-facing environments. This authentication bypass essentially renders the entire administrative interface accessible to any user who can manipulate cookies, fundamentally undermining the application's security model.
This vulnerability aligns with CWE-287 which addresses improper authentication issues in software applications, specifically addressing the weakness where applications rely on client-side validation for critical security decisions. The flaw also corresponds to ATT&CK technique T1078.004 which covers valid accounts using compromised credentials, though in this case the compromise occurs through cookie manipulation rather than credential theft. Organizations should implement comprehensive mitigations including proper session management with server-side validation, input sanitization, and robust access control mechanisms. The recommended fix involves implementing proper authentication checks that validate administrative privileges server-side rather than relying on client-provided cookie values, along with regular security audits of session management implementations to prevent similar vulnerabilities from being introduced in future code developments.