CVE-2009-1637 in Simple Customer
Summary
by MITRE
profile.php in Simple Customer 1.3 does not require administrative authentication, which allows remote attackers to change the admin e-mail address and password via the email and password parameters.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/29/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2009-1637 resides within the Simple Customer 1.3 web application's profile.php script, representing a critical authentication bypass flaw that undermines the system's security posture. This issue stems from insufficient access control mechanisms that fail to verify administrative privileges before permitting modifications to sensitive user account parameters. The vulnerability specifically affects the administrative email address and password fields, which can be manipulated by unauthorized remote attackers without proper authentication credentials.
The technical implementation of this flaw demonstrates a classic lack of input validation and privilege verification within the application's authentication flow. When attackers submit requests containing email and password parameters to the profile.php endpoint, the system processes these modifications without confirming whether the requesting user possesses administrative rights. This weakness aligns with CWE-285, which categorizes improper authorization issues where applications fail to properly verify user permissions before executing privileged operations. The vulnerability essentially creates a backdoor path that allows attackers to assume administrative control of the system through simple parameter manipulation.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents a severe risk to system integrity and data confidentiality. An attacker who successfully exploits this flaw can completely compromise the administrative account, gaining unrestricted access to all system functions and potentially leading to full system takeover. The remote nature of the attack means that threat actors can exploit this vulnerability from anywhere on the internet without requiring physical access or prior system compromise. This makes the vulnerability particularly dangerous as it can be exploited by automated scanning tools and increases the attack surface significantly. The impact extends beyond simple credential theft, as administrative access typically provides the ability to modify system configurations, access sensitive data, and potentially establish persistent access through other attack vectors.
The exploitation of this vulnerability can be categorized under the MITRE ATT&CK framework's privilege escalation techniques, specifically targeting the 'T1068 - Exploitation for Privilege Escalation' and 'T1566 - Phishing for Information' categories. Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including mandatory authentication checks for all administrative functions, proper input validation on all parameters, and regular security assessments of web applications. The recommended remediation involves implementing robust authentication mechanisms that verify administrative privileges before processing any changes to sensitive account parameters, along with proper logging and monitoring of administrative activities to detect unauthorized access attempts. Additionally, the application should be updated to a newer version that addresses this specific authorization flaw, as the vulnerability is likely to persist in older versions of the software due to the fundamental design flaw in the authentication process.