CVE-2011-3381 in Phorum
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Phorum before 5.2.16 allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of unspecified victims via unknown vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/10/2019
The CVE-2011-3381 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw discovered in the Phorum web forum software prior to version 5.2.16. This vulnerability falls under the CWE-352 category, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery weaknesses in software applications. The flaw enables remote attackers to manipulate authenticated user sessions by tricking victims into executing unauthorized actions without their knowledge or consent. The vulnerability's severity stems from its ability to hijack legitimate user sessions, potentially allowing attackers to perform administrative functions or modify user data.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability in Phorum involves the absence of proper validation mechanisms for cross-domain requests. When users navigate to malicious websites or click on compromised links, the attacker can craft requests that appear to originate from the legitimate Phorum application. This occurs because the application fails to implement anti-CSRF tokens or other session validation controls that would normally verify the authenticity of requests. The unspecified nature of the attack vectors suggests that multiple pathways could be exploited, making the vulnerability particularly dangerous as it could be leveraged through various attack scenarios including email phishing, malicious website embedding, or social engineering campaigns.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data theft or modification. Attackers could potentially gain full administrative control over affected Phorum installations, allowing them to manipulate forum content, delete posts, create new users, or even install malicious code. The hijacking of user authentication sessions creates a persistent threat where compromised users remain vulnerable until their sessions expire or are manually invalidated. This vulnerability directly impacts the integrity and availability of web applications, potentially causing significant damage to community forums, corporate communication platforms, or any organization relying on Phorum for user interaction. The long-term consequences include compromised user trust, potential regulatory compliance violations, and reputational damage for organizations running vulnerable systems.
Organizations should immediately upgrade to Phorum version 5.2.16 or later to remediate this vulnerability, as no effective workarounds exist for the specific CSRF implementation flaw. The mitigation strategy should include comprehensive security assessments of all Phorum installations, implementation of proper session management controls, and deployment of web application firewalls that can detect and block suspicious cross-site requests. According to ATT&CK framework category TA0001 (Initial Access) and TA0003 (Persistence), this vulnerability represents a critical entry point that could be exploited for ongoing access and control of affected systems. Security teams should also implement monitoring for unusual authentication patterns and user behavior that might indicate session hijacking attempts, while ensuring that all web applications implement robust CSRF protection mechanisms including anti-CSRF tokens, origin validation, and proper session handling procedures.