CVE-2012-1220 in GAzie
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in modules/config/admin_utente.php in GAzie 5.20 and earlier allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of administrators for requests that change account information via an update action, as demonstrated by changing the password.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/15/2025
The CVE-2012-1220 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw discovered in the GAzie 5.20 web application, specifically within the modules/config/admin_utente.php file. This vulnerability resides in the administrative interface of the application, making it particularly dangerous as it targets privileged user accounts with elevated access rights. The flaw allows remote attackers to exploit the lack of proper authentication verification mechanisms when processing administrative update actions, creating a pathway for unauthorized account modifications.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the absence of anti-forgery tokens or other validation mechanisms within the administrative user management functions. When administrators perform account-related operations such as password changes, the application fails to verify that the request originates from an authenticated user session rather than a maliciously crafted request. This absence of proper session validation creates a window of opportunity for attackers to craft specially designed web pages or links that, when visited by an authenticated administrator, automatically submit malicious requests to the vulnerable application. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it operates at the administrative level, meaning successful exploitation could result in complete account takeover and unauthorized access to sensitive system functions.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple privilege escalation as it provides attackers with direct access to administrative controls within the GAzie application. An attacker who successfully exploits this CSRF flaw could change administrator passwords, modify user permissions, access confidential data, or potentially use the compromised administrative account to launch further attacks within the network. The vulnerability demonstrates a fundamental weakness in the application's security architecture, specifically in how it handles authenticated sessions and request validation. This weakness aligns with CWE-352, which classifies cross-site request forgery vulnerabilities as a critical security flaw that allows attackers to perform actions on behalf of authenticated users without their knowledge or consent.
The exploitation of this vulnerability typically follows the standard CSRF attack pattern where malicious actors create web pages containing hidden forms or javascript code that automatically submits requests to the target application. When an administrator visits such a malicious page while logged into the GAzie application, the browser automatically includes any relevant cookies or authentication tokens, thereby executing the malicious action with the administrator's privileges. This attack vector is particularly dangerous because it requires no special knowledge of the target application's internal workings beyond understanding how to construct a valid CSRF payload. The vulnerability also aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566, which describes social engineering attacks that manipulate users into executing malicious actions, and T1078, which covers valid accounts usage for persistence and privilege escalation.
Mitigation strategies for this CSRF vulnerability should focus on implementing robust anti-forgery token mechanisms within the administrative interfaces of the application. The most effective solution involves generating unique, unpredictable tokens for each user session and requiring these tokens to be validated before processing any administrative actions. Additionally, implementing proper session management practices, including secure cookie attributes, session timeout mechanisms, and regular session regeneration, would significantly reduce the attack surface. The application should also enforce strict input validation and implement proper referer header checking to verify that requests originate from legitimate sources within the application. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls to detect and block suspicious CSRF patterns, while ensuring that all web applications are regularly updated to address known vulnerabilities. The remediation process should include thorough code reviews to identify similar vulnerabilities in other administrative functions and ensure that proper security controls are consistently applied throughout the application's architecture.