CVE-2012-0440 in Bugzilla
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in jsonrpc.cgi in Bugzilla 3.5.x and 3.6.x before 3.6.8, 3.7.x and 4.0.x before 4.0.4, and 4.1.x and 4.2.x before 4.2rc2 allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of arbitrary users for requests that use the JSON-RPC API.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/29/2021
The CVE-2012-0440 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw within Bugzilla's JSON-RPC API implementation that affects multiple versions of the popular bug tracking system. This vulnerability exists in the jsonrpc.cgi component of Bugzilla versions 3.5.x through 3.6.7, 3.7.x through 4.0.3, and 4.1.x through 4.2rc1, creating a significant security risk for organizations relying on these systems for software development and bug management. The flaw specifically targets the authentication mechanisms used by the JSON-RPC API, which is commonly employed for programmatic access to Bugzilla functionality through web services.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability stems from the absence of proper anti-CSRF protection mechanisms within the JSON-RPC API endpoint. When users authenticate to Bugzilla through the web interface, their session cookies are automatically included with subsequent requests. However, the jsonrpc.cgi script fails to validate that requests originate from legitimate sources within the same context as the authenticated session. This absence of CSRF token validation allows remote attackers to craft malicious web pages or scripts that can execute arbitrary API calls on behalf of authenticated users without their knowledge or consent.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe as it enables attackers to perform authenticated actions within Bugzilla systems without proper authorization. An attacker could potentially create new bugs, modify existing bug reports, change user permissions, or even delete critical data through the JSON-RPC API. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it operates at the API level rather than the web interface level, meaning that even users who may have restricted access through the GUI could be exploited through programmatic interfaces. This creates a vector for privilege escalation and data manipulation that can compromise the integrity of entire bug tracking systems.
Organizations using affected Bugzilla versions should immediately implement mitigation strategies including updating to the patched versions mentioned in the CVE details, implementing proper CSRF token validation for API endpoints, and configuring web application firewalls to monitor for suspicious API patterns. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery weaknesses, and can be categorized under ATT&CK technique T1566 for credential access through web application attacks. Security administrators should also consider implementing additional monitoring for API usage patterns and ensuring that all authentication mechanisms within web applications include robust CSRF protection measures to prevent similar vulnerabilities from being exploited in other systems.