CVE-2012-0829 in Mibew Messenger
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerabilities in Mibew Messenger 1.6.4 and earlier allow remote attackers to hijack the authentication of operators for requests that insert cross-site scripting (XSS) sequences via the (1) address or (2) threadid parameters to operator/ban.php; or (3) geolinkparams, (4) title, or (5) chattitle parameters to operator/settings.php.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/10/2017
The CVE-2012-0829 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw affecting Mibew Messenger versions 1.6.4 and earlier. This vulnerability exposes the application to unauthorized manipulation by malicious actors who can exploit the lack of proper CSRF protection mechanisms. The flaw specifically targets operator authentication sessions, allowing attackers to hijack legitimate user sessions and execute unauthorized actions within the application's administrative interface. The vulnerability operates through multiple attack vectors, making it particularly dangerous as it can be exploited through various parameters within different endpoints, creating multiple entry points for malicious exploitation.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient validation of request origins and lack of anti-CSRF tokens in critical administrative endpoints. Attackers can craft malicious requests that appear legitimate to the application because they leverage the operator's existing authenticated session without requiring additional authentication credentials. The vulnerability affects two primary files: operator/ban.php and operator/settings.php, where specific parameters become attack vectors. In the ban.php file, the address and threadid parameters can be manipulated to inject malicious XSS payloads, while in settings.php, the geolinkparams, title, and chattitle parameters present similar risks. This flaw demonstrates a fundamental weakness in the application's session management and request validation mechanisms, allowing attackers to bypass authentication controls and perform unauthorized operations.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe as it enables attackers to gain unauthorized access to administrative functions within the Mibew Messenger application. Once exploited, attackers can ban legitimate users, modify application settings, and inject malicious scripts that persist in the application's interface. The combination of CSRF and XSS vulnerabilities creates a particularly dangerous scenario where attackers can not only hijack sessions but also establish persistent malicious code execution within the application environment. This dual exploitation capability allows for extended attack persistence and can lead to complete compromise of the messaging system, potentially affecting all users and operators within the application's scope. The vulnerability undermines the trust model of the application and can result in data corruption, unauthorized access, and service disruption.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2012-0829 should focus on implementing robust CSRF protection mechanisms throughout the application. The most effective approach involves deploying anti-CSRF tokens for all state-changing operations, particularly in administrative endpoints like ban.php and settings.php. These tokens should be generated per session and validated on each request to ensure that requests originate from legitimate sources. Additionally, implementing proper request origin validation and implementing Content Security Policy headers can help prevent XSS injection attacks that are facilitated by this vulnerability. Organizations should also consider upgrading to patched versions of Mibew Messenger, as this vulnerability was addressed in subsequent releases. The implementation of proper input validation and sanitization for all parameters, combined with session management improvements, will significantly reduce the attack surface and prevent exploitation of similar CSRF vulnerabilities in the future. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery, and represents a critical concern in the ATT&CK framework under the privilege escalation and persistence techniques categories.