CVE-2011-0642 in N-13 News
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in news/admin.php in N-13 News 3.4, 3.7, and 4.0 allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of administrators for requests that create new users via the options action. NOTE: some of these details are obtained from third party information.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/28/2024
The CVE-2011-0642 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw in the N-13 News content management system versions 3.4, 3.7, and 4.0. This vulnerability resides within the news/admin.php file and specifically targets the administrative authentication mechanisms of the system. The flaw enables remote attackers to exploit the trust relationship between authenticated administrators and the web application, allowing them to perform unauthorized actions on behalf of administrators without their knowledge or consent. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it targets the administrative interface where users can be created, making it a severe threat to system integrity and user management security.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the absence of proper anti-CSRF measures in the administrative user creation functionality. When administrators access the options action within the news/admin.php file, the application fails to validate the origin of requests or implement token-based verification mechanisms. This lack of validation means that malicious actors can craft specially designed web pages or exploit existing vulnerabilities to trick authenticated administrators into executing unintended actions. The vulnerability specifically affects the user creation functionality, allowing attackers to add new users to the system with potentially elevated privileges, thereby compromising the entire administrative structure.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple unauthorized user creation. Attackers can leverage this flaw to establish persistent access to the administrative interface, potentially leading to complete system compromise. The vulnerability creates a pathway for attackers to escalate privileges, modify existing user accounts, or even delete critical system data. Given that the affected versions of N-13 News were widely deployed, this vulnerability could have impacted numerous websites and organizations relying on this content management system. The remote nature of the attack means that exploitation does not require physical access to the target system, making it particularly dangerous in networked environments where administrators might be accessing the system from various locations.
Mitigation strategies for this CSRF vulnerability should focus on implementing robust anti-CSRF protection mechanisms throughout the administrative interface. The most effective approach involves implementing unique, unpredictable tokens for each user session that must be validated before any administrative action is processed. These tokens should be generated using cryptographically secure random number generators and properly validated on the server side. Additionally, implementing proper origin validation and referrer header checks can help prevent unauthorized requests from external domains. Organizations should also consider implementing additional security measures such as multi-factor authentication for administrative accounts, regular security audits of web applications, and ensuring that all CMS components are kept up to date with the latest security patches. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses cross-site request forgery weaknesses in web applications, and represents a clear violation of the principle of least privilege in web security practices. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this as a privilege escalation technique through web application exploitation, where adversaries leverage authentication bypass mechanisms to gain elevated system access.