CVE-2011-0503 in VaM Shop
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in VaM Shop 1.6, 1.6.1, and probably earlier versions allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of administrators for requests that (1) change user status via admin/customers.php or (2) change user permissions via admin/accounting.php. NOTE: some of these details are obtained from third party information.
If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/21/2025
The CVE-2011-0503 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw discovered in VaM Shop versions 1.6, 1.6.1, and potentially earlier releases. This vulnerability resides within the administrative interfaces of the e-commerce platform, specifically targeting the customer management and accounting modules. The flaw allows remote attackers to manipulate authenticated administrative sessions through carefully crafted malicious requests that leverage the victim's existing authentication credentials without requiring knowledge of the administrator's password or session tokens.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the absence of proper anti-CSRF token validation mechanisms within the targeted administrative endpoints. When administrators navigate to admin/customers.php or admin/accounting.php, the application fails to verify that requests originate from legitimate administrative interfaces rather than maliciously constructed web pages. This omission creates a condition where an attacker can craft HTML forms or JavaScript code that automatically submits requests to these administrative URLs when an authenticated administrator visits a compromised website, effectively hijacking their session to perform unauthorized actions.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple privilege escalation, as it enables attackers to fundamentally alter user access controls and account statuses within the VaM Shop administration panel. An attacker could potentially demote themselves to a regular user account, grant themselves elevated privileges, or modify customer account information in ways that compromise the integrity of the entire e-commerce platform. The scope of potential damage includes unauthorized access to sensitive financial data, manipulation of customer records, and complete compromise of administrative controls over the online store's operations.
From a cybersecurity perspective, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery weaknesses in web applications. The flaw demonstrates poor input validation and session management practices that violate fundamental security principles outlined in the OWASP Top Ten and NIST cybersecurity frameworks. The attack vector leverages the principle of least privilege violation, where administrative functions can be executed without proper authorization checks, potentially enabling lateral movement within the application's administrative interface.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate implementation of anti-CSRF token mechanisms across all administrative endpoints, particularly those handling user account modifications and permission changes. Organizations should deploy unique, cryptographically secure tokens for each administrative session that are validated on every state-changing request. Additionally, implementing proper referer header validation, same-site cookie attributes, and implementing the double-submit cookie pattern would provide layered defense against similar CSRF attacks. Regular security audits of web application frameworks and third-party components should include CSRF vulnerability assessments to prevent such issues from persisting in production environments. The vulnerability also underscores the importance of maintaining current software versions and applying security patches promptly, as this issue likely affects multiple versions of the VaM Shop platform and similar e-commerce solutions that fail to implement proper CSRF protection mechanisms.