CVE-2009-4787 in Pligg
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerabilities in Pligg before 1.0.3 allow remote attackers to hijack the authentication of administrators for requests that create user accounts or have unspecified other impact.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/08/2021
The CVE-2009-4787 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw affecting the Pligg content management system prior to version 1.0.3. This vulnerability falls under the Common Weakness Enumeration category CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery weaknesses in web applications. The flaw enables remote attackers to manipulate authenticated sessions and perform unauthorized administrative actions without proper authentication. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it targets administrator accounts, which possess elevated privileges within the system.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the absence of proper anti-CSRF mechanisms within the Pligg application's authentication flow. When administrators perform actions such as creating user accounts or executing other administrative functions, the application fails to validate the authenticity of the request origin. Attackers can craft malicious web pages or exploit existing vulnerabilities in other parts of the application to trick administrators into executing unintended actions. The vulnerability's impact extends beyond simple account creation to include unspecified other impacts, suggesting potentially severe consequences including privilege escalation, data manipulation, or system compromise.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability creates a significant risk for Pligg installations as it allows attackers to gain unauthorized administrative control over affected systems. The attack vector requires minimal technical expertise, making it particularly dangerous for widespread exploitation. Administrators who visit malicious websites or are tricked into clicking on compromised links could unknowingly execute administrative commands. The vulnerability's impact is amplified because it targets the most privileged users within the system, potentially allowing attackers to completely compromise the application's integrity and availability. This type of vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566 which covers credential access through social engineering and malicious web content.
The mitigation strategies for CVE-2009-4787 primarily involve upgrading to Pligg version 1.0.3 or later, which includes proper CSRF token implementation. Organizations should also implement additional security measures such as ensuring proper session management, implementing origin validation checks, and deploying Content Security Policy headers to prevent unauthorized script execution. Regular security audits should verify that all forms and administrative functions properly implement anti-CSRF tokens. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of implementing proper authentication validation mechanisms and adheres to security best practices outlined in OWASP Top Ten, specifically addressing the prevention of CSRF attacks through proper token generation and validation.