CVE-2012-2380 in Roller
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerabilities in the admin/editor console in Apache Roller before 5.0.1 allow remote attackers to hijack the authentication of admins or editors by leveraging the HTTP POST functionality.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/17/2019
The CVE-2012-2380 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw discovered in Apache Roller versions prior to 5.0.1. This vulnerability specifically targets the administrative and editorial console components of the web application, creating a significant security risk for organizations relying on this content management system. The flaw enables remote attackers to exploit the HTTP POST functionality within the admin interface to perform unauthorized actions by tricking authenticated users into executing malicious requests without their knowledge or consent.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from the absence of proper CSRF protection mechanisms within the affected Apache Roller console. When administrators or editors perform actions through the web interface, the application fails to validate the origin of POST requests, allowing attackers to craft malicious web pages or email attachments that automatically submit requests to the vulnerable application. This occurs because the application does not implement anti-CSRF tokens or other validation methods that would ensure requests originate from legitimate sources within the authenticated session. The vulnerability exists at the application layer where user authentication is managed, making it particularly dangerous as it can be exploited against authenticated users with elevated privileges.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and multifaceted. Attackers could potentially hijack administrative sessions to perform actions such as creating new user accounts, modifying existing content, deleting blog entries, changing system configurations, or even gaining full control over the web application. Since the vulnerability targets the admin/editor console, successful exploitation could lead to complete compromise of the content management system and potentially the underlying server infrastructure. Organizations using vulnerable versions of Apache Roller face significant risks including data loss, content tampering, unauthorized access to sensitive information, and potential escalation to broader network compromise. The remote nature of the attack means that exploitation does not require physical access to the system or any special privileges beyond the ability to deliver malicious content to targeted users.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2012-2380 primarily involve upgrading to Apache Roller version 5.0.1 or later, which includes proper CSRF protection mechanisms. Organizations should also implement additional defensive measures such as deploying web application firewalls that can detect and block suspicious POST requests, configuring proper session management controls, and ensuring that administrators use secure network connections when accessing administrative interfaces. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses cross-site request forgery weaknesses in web applications, and can be mapped to ATT&CK technique T1566.001 for initial access through spearphishing attachments and T1078 for valid accounts usage once the session has been hijacked. Security teams should also conduct thorough penetration testing to verify that the upgrade has properly resolved the vulnerability and implement ongoing monitoring to detect potential exploitation attempts.