CVE-2012-1297 in Contao
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerabilities in main.php in Contao (formerly TYPOlight) 2.11.0 and earlier allow remote attackers to hijack the authentication of administrators for requests that (1) delete users via a delete action in the user module, (2) delete news via a delete action in the news module, or (3) delete newsletters via a delete action in the newsletters module.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/27/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2012-1297 represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw in Contao CMS versions 2.11.0 and earlier, specifically affecting the main.php script. This vulnerability stems from inadequate validation of HTTP requests originating from authenticated administrator sessions, creating a significant security risk that could be exploited by remote attackers to perform unauthorized administrative actions without proper authentication. The flaw exists within the user, news, and newsletter modules of the CMS, making it particularly dangerous as it could lead to complete compromise of administrative functions and potentially the entire web application.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability occurs when legitimate administrators navigate to malicious websites or click on compromised links while maintaining an active session with the Contao CMS. The attacker can craft specially crafted requests that, when executed through the administrator's browser, will perform destructive actions such as deleting users, news articles, or newsletter entries without requiring the administrator's knowledge or consent. This occurs because the application fails to validate the origin of requests or implement proper anti-CSRF tokens that would verify the request legitimacy. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery weaknesses, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566.001 for initial access through malicious links and T1078 for valid accounts usage.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data deletion, as it provides attackers with unauthorized access to critical administrative functions within the CMS. Successful exploitation could result in complete removal of user accounts, loss of published content including news articles and newsletters, and potential disruption of the entire website's functionality. Attackers could leverage this vulnerability to escalate their privileges further by deleting user accounts to prevent legitimate administrators from accessing the system, or by manipulating content to spread malicious information. The vulnerability particularly affects organizations relying on Contao for content management, as the impact could extend to reputation damage, regulatory compliance issues, and potential legal consequences from data loss or unauthorized modifications.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should immediately implement mitigations including the deployment of anti-CSRF tokens for all administrative actions, implementing proper request origin validation, and ensuring that all administrative functions require additional authentication factors. The recommended approach involves modifying the application code to generate unique tokens for each user session and validate these tokens before executing any destructive operations. Security patches should be applied as soon as possible, with administrators monitoring for any suspicious activity following the implementation of mitigations. Additionally, network segmentation and access controls should be reviewed to limit the scope of potential damage, while regular security audits should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities in other applications and modules within the organization's infrastructure.