CVE-2011-2773 in Mahara
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Mahara before 1.4.1 allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of administrators for requests that add a user to an institution.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/26/2021
The CVE-2011-2773 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw discovered in the Mahara learning management system prior to version 1.4.1. This vulnerability operates at the application layer and specifically targets the authentication mechanisms within the system's institutional user management functionality. The flaw enables remote attackers to exploit the trust relationship between authenticated administrators and the application, allowing them to execute unauthorized administrative actions without proper authorization. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it specifically targets administrative privileges, which are fundamental to maintaining system integrity and user access control.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the absence of proper anti-forgery token validation within the user addition requests that administrators perform within institutional contexts. When an administrator performs actions such as adding new users to an institution, the application should verify that the request originates from a legitimate authenticated session. However, the vulnerable version of Mahara fails to implement adequate CSRF protection mechanisms, leaving the system susceptible to attacks where malicious actors can craft specially crafted requests that appear to originate from authenticated administrator sessions. This flaw directly violates the principle of least privilege and undermines the application's session management security controls.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple unauthorized user additions, as it provides attackers with potential pathways to escalate privileges and gain deeper system access. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability can add users with administrative privileges to institutions, effectively compromising the entire institutional security model. The attack vector requires minimal technical expertise and can be executed through various methods including social engineering campaigns, phishing attacks, or by leveraging existing compromised user accounts. This vulnerability particularly affects educational institutions and organizations that rely on Mahara for managing student and faculty access, as it allows attackers to bypass standard access controls and potentially gain persistent access to sensitive institutional data.
Organizations should implement comprehensive mitigation strategies that include immediate patching to version 1.4.1 or later, which contains the necessary CSRF token validation mechanisms. Additionally, network segmentation and monitoring should be enhanced to detect unusual user addition patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses cross-site request forgery weaknesses in web applications, and represents a common attack pattern categorized under the ATT&CK framework as privilege escalation through web application vulnerabilities. Security teams should also conduct thorough review of all web application functionality that handles administrative operations, ensuring that proper anti-CSRF measures are implemented across all user management interfaces. Regular security assessments and penetration testing should be performed to identify similar vulnerabilities in related systems and prevent similar exploitation scenarios from occurring in the future.