CVE-2010-4729 in Application Framework
Summary
by MITRE
Zikula before 1.2.3 does not use the authid protection mechanism for (1) the lostpassword form and (2) mailpasswd processing, which makes it easier for remote attackers to generate a flood of password requests and possibly conduct cross-site request forgery (CSRF) attacks via multiple form submissions.
Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/13/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2010-4729 affects Zikula versions prior to 1.2.3 and represents a critical security flaw in the application's authentication mechanisms. This weakness specifically targets two critical components of the user authentication system: the lostpassword form and the mailpasswd processing functionality. The absence of proper authid protection in these areas creates significant operational risks for affected systems. The authid mechanism serves as a crucial anti-CSRF protection feature that validates the authenticity of form submissions by generating unique tokens that must be present and valid for any authentication-related operations. Without this protection, malicious actors can exploit the system's trust in legitimate user sessions to perform unauthorized actions.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from the application's failure to enforce proper request validation for sensitive authentication operations. When users attempt to reset their passwords through the lostpassword form or when the mailpasswd processing executes, the system should validate that these requests originate from legitimate sources within the application rather than from external malicious actors. The authid protection mechanism typically generates time-limited tokens that are embedded within forms and validated upon submission. This approach prevents attackers from crafting malicious requests that appear to come from authenticated users, as they would lack the valid authid token required for processing. The vulnerability essentially removes this critical layer of security, allowing attackers to submit multiple password reset requests without proper authentication validation.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple password reset flooding to encompass potential cross-site request forgery attacks that could compromise user accounts. Attackers can leverage this weakness to generate massive volumes of password reset requests, potentially overwhelming system resources and creating denial of service conditions for legitimate users. The CSRF aspect of this vulnerability means that malicious actors could craft web pages or emails that automatically submit password reset requests on behalf of victims who visit compromised sites. This scenario particularly threatens users who may be logged into the vulnerable Zikula application when they encounter malicious content, as the system would process these requests without proper validation of the request source. The vulnerability also increases the risk of account takeover attempts, as attackers could potentially abuse the flood of requests to overwhelm account recovery mechanisms or to identify valid user accounts through response timing variations.
Organizations utilizing affected Zikula versions should implement immediate mitigation strategies to address this vulnerability. The primary recommendation involves upgrading to Zikula 1.2.3 or later versions where the authid protection mechanisms have been properly implemented for both the lostpassword form and mailpasswd processing. Security administrators should also consider implementing additional protective measures such as rate limiting for password reset requests to prevent abuse of the system's authentication functionality. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery, and represents a clear violation of the principle of least privilege in authentication systems. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to techniques involving credential access through authentication bypass and privilege escalation, as attackers can exploit the weakened authentication controls to gain unauthorized access to user accounts. Additionally, the resource exhaustion aspect of this vulnerability corresponds to techniques used in denial of service attacks, making it a multi-faceted threat that requires comprehensive remediation approaches.