CVE-2010-3883 in CMS Made Simple
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the Change Group Permissions module in CMS Made Simple 1.7.1 and earlier allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of arbitrary users for requests that make permission modifications.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/06/2018
The CVE-2010-3883 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw within the CMS Made Simple content management system, specifically affecting versions 1.7.1 and earlier. This vulnerability resides in the Change Group Permissions module, which is a core administrative function responsible for managing user access controls and group-based permissions within the CMS. The flaw enables remote attackers to exploit the system's trust relationship with authenticated users, allowing them to manipulate permission settings through maliciously crafted requests that appear to originate from legitimate administrative sessions.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the absence of proper anti-CSRF token validation within the group permissions modification endpoints. When an administrator performs permission changes through the CMS interface, the system should verify that the request originates from the authenticated user's legitimate session rather than from a malicious third party. However, CMS Made Simple 1.7.1 and earlier versions fail to implement robust session validation mechanisms, particularly missing the inclusion of unique, unpredictable tokens that would prevent unauthorized requests from succeeding. This absence creates a scenario where an attacker can construct malicious web pages or emails containing hidden form submissions that, when clicked by an authenticated administrator, execute unauthorized permission modifications without the user's knowledge or consent.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple privilege escalation, as it fundamentally compromises the integrity of the CMS's access control mechanisms. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability can modify group permissions to grant themselves elevated privileges, potentially gaining administrative access to the entire CMS installation. The attack vector is particularly dangerous because it requires no authentication credentials from the attacker, relying instead on social engineering tactics to convince an authenticated administrator to click on malicious links or visit compromised websites. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses cross-site request forgery weaknesses, and represents a classic example of how insufficient input validation and session management can lead to severe privilege escalation attacks.
The exploitation of this vulnerability can result in complete compromise of the CMS environment, as attackers can modify user groups to include themselves in administrative roles, create new administrator accounts, or disable security features. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to techniques involving privilege escalation and credential access, specifically targeting the T1078.004 sub-technique related to valid accounts and T1548.001 for abuse of privileges. Organizations using affected CMS versions face significant risk of data breaches, unauthorized content modifications, and potential lateral movement within their network infrastructure, as compromised CMS installations often serve as entry points for broader attacks. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of implementing proper CSRF protection mechanisms, including the use of anti-CSRF tokens, SameSite cookie attributes, and comprehensive session management protocols.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2010-3883 require immediate action including upgrading to CMS Made Simple version 1.7.2 or later, which contains the necessary patches to address the CSRF vulnerability. Organizations should also implement additional security measures such as network segmentation, web application firewalls, and regular security audits to prevent exploitation attempts. The remediation process must include thorough testing of the updated CMS installation to ensure that all administrative functions operate correctly while maintaining proper CSRF protection. Security teams should also conduct comprehensive vulnerability assessments to identify any other potential CSRF vulnerabilities within their web applications, as this flaw represents a common category of security issues that can be exploited across various CMS platforms and web applications. Regular security training for administrators regarding social engineering attacks and the dangers of clicking unknown links can significantly reduce the risk of successful exploitation attempts.