CVE-2009-2129 in Elvinbts
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in login.php in Elvin 1.2.0 allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of arbitrary users via a logout action.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/01/2024
The CVE-2009-2129 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw in the Elvin 1.2.0 web application that specifically targets the login.php script. This vulnerability operates under the broader category of CWE-352, which defines cross-site request forgery as a security weakness where an attacker can trick authenticated users into executing unwanted actions on a web application. The flaw manifests in the application's inability to properly validate the origin of requests, particularly when processing logout actions that could be exploited by malicious actors to hijack user sessions.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from the absence of proper anti-CSRF mechanisms within the Elvin application's authentication flow. When users navigate to the logout action, the system fails to implement token-based validation or referer header checks that would normally prevent unauthorized requests from being processed. This allows remote attackers to craft malicious web pages or exploit existing vulnerabilities in other parts of the application to initiate logout requests on behalf of authenticated users. The exploitation process typically involves creating a malicious HTML page containing an embedded request to the logout endpoint, which when loaded by an authenticated user triggers the unintended session termination and potential re-authentication manipulation.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple session hijacking to encompass potential account takeovers and unauthorized access to sensitive user data. Attackers can leverage this weakness to force legitimate users to log out of their accounts, potentially disrupting service availability while simultaneously creating opportunities to capture session tokens or credentials during subsequent authentication attempts. The vulnerability particularly affects web applications that rely on session-based authentication mechanisms, where the logout functionality serves as a critical point for session management and user access control. This weakness can be particularly dangerous in environments where users access the application from shared or public computers, as it may enable attackers to manipulate user sessions without requiring direct authentication credentials.
Organizations utilizing Elvin 1.2.0 should implement immediate mitigations including the implementation of anti-CSRF tokens for all state-changing operations, particularly authentication-related actions. The solution aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566.002 which focuses on credential harvesting through phishing and social engineering. Security measures should include generating unique, unpredictable tokens for each user session and validating these tokens on every request that modifies user state. Additionally, implementing proper referer header validation and same-site cookie attributes can provide additional layers of protection against cross-site request forgery attacks. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of implementing comprehensive session management controls and adhering to established security frameworks that address session handling and authentication flow validation as outlined in OWASP Top Ten and NIST SP 800-53 security guidelines. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls and monitoring for suspicious logout patterns that may indicate CSRF attack attempts.