CVE-2009-4877 in WebGUI
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerabilities in WebGUI before 7.7.14 allow remote attackers to hijack the authentication of users for unspecified requests via unknown vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/05/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2009-4877 represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw affecting WebGUI versions prior to 7.7.14. This CSRF vulnerability resides in the web application framework's authentication handling mechanisms, creating a pathway for remote attackers to exploit user sessions without their knowledge or consent. The vulnerability stems from insufficient validation of request origins and lack of proper anti-CSRF token implementation within the authentication flow, allowing malicious actors to craft requests that appear legitimate to the target system.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves the absence of anti-CSRF protection mechanisms that would normally validate the authenticity of requests originating from authorized users. Attackers can leverage this weakness by tricking authenticated users into visiting malicious websites or clicking on compromised links that automatically submit requests to the vulnerable WebGUI instance. These requests can perform unauthorized actions such as changing user passwords, modifying account settings, or executing administrative functions, all while leveraging the victim's existing authenticated session.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability poses significant risks to organizations using affected WebGUI versions, as it can lead to complete account takeovers and unauthorized system access. The unspecified nature of the affected requests suggests that the vulnerability impacts multiple functional areas within the web application, potentially allowing attackers to escalate privileges or access sensitive data. The remote exploitation capability means that attackers do not require physical access to the network or system, making this vulnerability particularly dangerous in environments where network boundaries are not strictly controlled.
The impact of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery weaknesses in software implementations. This classification emphasizes the fundamental flaw in the application's request validation process and its failure to properly authenticate the source of incoming requests. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to techniques involving credential access and privilege escalation, as successful exploitation can result in unauthorized access to user accounts and potentially administrative privileges within the WebGUI system.
Organizations should immediately upgrade to WebGUI version 7.7.14 or later to address this vulnerability, as no effective workarounds exist for the underlying authentication flaw. The mitigation strategy should also include implementing additional security controls such as proper session management, implementing CSRF tokens for all state-changing requests, and conducting regular security assessments to identify similar vulnerabilities in other web applications. Network segmentation and monitoring solutions can provide additional layers of protection by detecting unusual authentication patterns and unauthorized access attempts that may indicate exploitation of this vulnerability.