CVE-2009-4555 in AgoraCart
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerabilities in AgoraCart 5.2.005 and 5.2.006 and AgoraCart GOLD 5.5.005 allow remote attackers to hijack the authentication of administrators for requests that (1) modify a .htaccess file via an unspecified request to protected/manager.cgi or (2) change the password of an administrative account.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/26/2019
The vulnerability described in CVE-2009-4555 represents a critical cross-site request forgery issue affecting AgoraCart e-commerce platforms version 5.2.005 and 5.2.006, as well as AgoraCart GOLD 5.5.005. This CSRF flaw allows remote attackers to exploit the administrative authentication mechanisms and perform unauthorized actions on vulnerable systems. The vulnerability specifically targets the administrative interface of these e-commerce solutions, creating a significant risk for organizations relying on these platforms for their online commerce operations. The flaw exists due to insufficient validation of HTTP requests originating from authenticated administrative sessions, making it possible for attackers to craft malicious requests that appear legitimate to the application.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from the absence of proper anti-CSRF tokens or validation mechanisms within the administrative endpoints. Attackers can leverage this weakness to execute unauthorized actions such as modifying the .htaccess file through unspecified requests to protected/manager.cgi or changing administrative account passwords. The .htaccess file modification capability is particularly dangerous as it can alter server configuration settings, potentially leading to complete system compromise or unauthorized access to sensitive data. The password change functionality directly undermines the authentication security model, allowing attackers to gain persistent administrative access to the platform. This vulnerability manifests as a failure to validate the origin of administrative requests, violating fundamental security principles of web application design.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple unauthorized access, as it provides attackers with the ability to fundamentally alter the security posture of affected systems. When an administrator performs legitimate administrative tasks, their session remains authenticated, but malicious requests can be constructed to exploit this authenticated state without requiring additional authentication credentials. The modification of .htaccess files can result in configuration changes that disable security features, redirect traffic, or expose sensitive directories. The password change capability enables attackers to establish persistent access to the administrative interface, potentially leading to complete system compromise. Organizations using these vulnerable versions face significant risk of data breaches, unauthorized modifications to their e-commerce platforms, and potential financial losses due to the exploitation of this vulnerability.
Mitigation strategies for this CSRF vulnerability should focus on implementing proper anti-CSRF token mechanisms throughout the administrative interface of AgoraCart platforms. Organizations should immediately upgrade to patched versions of AgoraCart software to address the identified vulnerability. The implementation of CSRF tokens that are tied to user sessions and validated on each administrative request would prevent unauthorized actions from being executed. Additionally, the application should enforce strict request origin validation and implement proper session management practices to ensure that administrative actions can only be performed by legitimate authenticated users. Security configurations should include monitoring for unauthorized modifications to critical files like .htaccess and implementing proper access controls for administrative endpoints. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses cross-site request forgery flaws, and represents a clear violation of the principle of least privilege and proper authentication validation. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this as a privilege escalation technique through web application exploitation, emphasizing the need for comprehensive web application security measures including input validation and session management controls.