CVE-2012-2930 in TinyWebGallery
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerabilities in TinyWebGallery (TWG) before 1.8.8 allow remote attackers to hijack the authentication of administrators for requests that (1) add a user via an adduser action to admin/index.php or (2) conduct static PHP code injection attacks in .htusers.php via the user parameter to admin/index.php.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/21/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2012-2930 represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw affecting TinyWebGallery versions prior to 1.8.8. This vulnerability resides within the administrative interface of the web gallery system and exposes administrators to unauthorized actions that can fundamentally compromise system security and integrity. The flaw enables remote attackers to manipulate authenticated sessions and execute malicious operations without proper authorization, creating a significant risk for web applications that rely on administrative privileges for user management and configuration.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the absence of proper validation mechanisms for administrative actions within the TWG application. Specifically, the application fails to implement anti-CSRF tokens or similar protective measures when processing requests to the admin/index.php endpoint. Attackers can exploit this weakness by crafting malicious web pages or email attachments that automatically submit requests to the vulnerable administration interface, effectively hijacking the administrator's authenticated session. The vulnerability manifests in two distinct attack vectors that compound the security risk, making it particularly dangerous for web applications that handle sensitive user management operations.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple unauthorized access, as it enables attackers to perform two critical administrative functions. The first vector allows for unauthorized user addition through the adduser action, potentially enabling attackers to create persistent backdoor accounts within the system. The second vector permits static PHP code injection attacks targeting the .htusers.php file, which can lead to complete system compromise and arbitrary code execution. These combined attack paths provide adversaries with both persistent access and the ability to modify core system files, creating a comprehensive attack surface that can result in full system takeover and data exfiltration.
Security professionals should note that this vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery weaknesses in web applications. The flaw also maps to several ATT&CK techniques including T1078 for valid accounts and T1566 for social engineering attacks that leverage CSRF vulnerabilities. Organizations using affected versions of TinyWebGallery should immediately implement mitigations including the deployment of anti-CSRF tokens, proper session management controls, and input validation mechanisms. The most effective remediation involves upgrading to TinyWebGallery version 1.8.8 or later, which includes proper CSRF protection measures. Additionally, implementing web application firewalls, restricting administrative access to trusted networks, and conducting regular security audits can help reduce the risk exposure associated with this vulnerability and similar CSRF threats in web applications.