CVE-2009-2005 in Dokeos
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Dokeos 1.8.5, and possibly earlier, allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of unspecified victims and add new personal agenda items via unknown vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/10/2018
The CVE-2009-2005 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw discovered in Dokeos learning management system version 1.8.5 and potentially earlier releases. This vulnerability operates by exploiting the fundamental trust relationship between web applications and user browsers, allowing malicious actors to perform unauthorized actions on behalf of authenticated users without their knowledge or consent. The vulnerability specifically targets the personal agenda functionality of the platform, enabling attackers to inject new agenda items into users' calendars through carefully crafted malicious requests.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the absence of proper request validation mechanisms within Dokeos's authentication flow. When a user accesses the personal agenda management features, the system fails to implement anti-CSRF tokens or other protective measures that would verify the authenticity of requests originating from legitimate user sessions. Attackers can construct malicious web pages or exploit existing vulnerabilities in other parts of the application to submit forged requests that appear to come from authenticated users. These requests can manipulate the agenda system to add, modify, or delete personal calendar entries, potentially disrupting user workflows or serving as a vector for more sophisticated attacks.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple agenda manipulation, as it represents a fundamental breach in the application's session management and authentication integrity. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability can gain unauthorized access to user personal data, potentially leading to privacy violations and disruption of educational services. The unspecified nature of the victim authentication targets suggests that this vulnerability could affect multiple user roles within the Dokeos platform, including students, instructors, and administrators. The ability to add personal agenda items creates opportunities for attackers to inject malicious links, schedule disruptive events, or manipulate user schedules in ways that could impact educational activities and institutional operations.
From a cybersecurity perspective, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery weaknesses in web applications. The flaw demonstrates poor implementation of the principle of least privilege and inadequate protection against session hijacking attacks. According to ATT&CK framework category T1566, this vulnerability represents a technique for Initial Access through malicious web content, while T1078 covers the subsequent use of compromised accounts for persistent access. The vulnerability also relates to T1531 which addresses the use of web shells and malicious code execution. Organizations using Dokeos should implement immediate mitigations including the deployment of anti-CSRF tokens, proper request validation, and session management controls. The recommended remediation involves upgrading to patched versions of Dokeos, implementing proper CSRF protection mechanisms, and conducting comprehensive security reviews of all web application components to identify similar vulnerabilities in authentication and session handling processes.