CVE-2012-1631 in Admin:hover
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the Admin:hover module for Drupal allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of administrators for requests that unpublish all nodes, and possibly other actions, via unspecified vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/06/2018
The CVE-2012-1631 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw within the Admin:hover module for Drupal content management systems. This vulnerability specifically targets administrative users who possess elevated privileges within the Drupal environment, creating a significant security risk that can be exploited by remote attackers without requiring authentication credentials. The flaw exists in the module's insufficient validation mechanisms that fail to properly verify the authenticity of requests originating from authorized administrators.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from the module's failure to implement proper CSRF protection measures in its administrative interfaces. When administrators navigate to specific administrative pages within the Drupal system, the module does not adequately validate whether incoming requests originate from legitimate administrative sessions or from maliciously crafted cross-site requests. This absence of proper token validation or referer checking mechanisms allows attackers to construct malicious web pages or emails that can trigger administrative actions on behalf of authenticated users. The vulnerability specifically enables attackers to unpublish all nodes within the Drupal site, which represents a severe operational impact as it can effectively disable content availability and compromise the integrity of the website's published material.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple content manipulation, as it provides attackers with the capability to perform administrative actions that can fundamentally alter the website's functionality and security posture. When an administrator visits a malicious website containing crafted requests, the browser automatically submits requests to the vulnerable Drupal installation, potentially resulting in complete site compromise through content removal, configuration changes, or other administrative operations that the attacker may not be able to perform directly. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses cross-site request forgery weaknesses in web applications, and represents a classic example of how improper session validation can lead to privilege escalation and unauthorized administrative actions.
The security implications of this vulnerability are particularly concerning given that it affects the Admin:hover module, which typically provides enhanced administrative interfaces for content management tasks. Attackers can leverage this flaw to gain unauthorized access to administrative controls without needing to authenticate through legitimate means, potentially leading to complete site takeover. The unspecified vectors mentioned in the original description suggest that the vulnerability may exist across multiple administrative functions within the module, making it particularly dangerous as attackers can potentially exploit the flaw to perform various destructive operations. Organizations using affected Drupal installations should immediately implement mitigations such as applying the relevant security patches, implementing proper CSRF token validation, and considering additional web application firewall rules to prevent exploitation of this class of vulnerability. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this vulnerability under privilege escalation techniques, specifically targeting the use of administrative interfaces to gain unauthorized system access and control.