CVE-2012-4478 in Drag
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the Drag & Drop Gallery module 6.x for Drupal allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of administrators.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/05/2018
The CVE-2012-4478 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw within the Drag & Drop Gallery module version 6.x for Drupal content management system. This vulnerability specifically targets the authentication mechanisms of administrative users, creating a significant security risk for Drupal installations that utilize this particular module. The flaw enables remote attackers to manipulate authenticated sessions and potentially execute unauthorized administrative actions without proper authorization.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the absence of proper anti-CSRF token validation within the module's form processing mechanisms. When administrators interact with the Drag & Drop Gallery functionality, the module fails to adequately verify the authenticity of requests originating from legitimate administrative sessions. This omission creates a pathway for malicious actors to craft specially crafted requests that appear to originate from authenticated administrator sessions, effectively bypassing the standard authentication checks that should protect administrative functions.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability poses severe risks to Drupal-based web applications since it directly compromises administrative privileges. Attackers can leverage this flaw to perform actions such as modifying gallery configurations, uploading malicious files, changing user permissions, or even deleting critical content. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it operates at the administrative level, meaning that successful exploitation can lead to complete system compromise. The remote nature of the attack means that threat actors do not require physical access to the system or any privileged credentials beyond the ability to deliver malicious payloads to authenticated users.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery weaknesses in software applications. This classification indicates that the flaw represents a well-documented pattern of insecure web application design where proper request validation mechanisms are absent or inadequate. From the MITRE ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to techniques involving privilege escalation and persistence, as attackers can leverage the administrative access to establish long-term control over affected systems. The attack surface is further expanded by the fact that the vulnerability affects a widely used Drupal module, making it a target of automated scanning and exploitation tools.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should immediately implement mitigations including applying the official security patch released by the Drupal security team, which typically involves implementing proper anti-CSRF token generation and validation mechanisms. Additional protective measures include implementing web application firewalls that can detect and block suspicious cross-site requests, conducting thorough security audits of all installed modules, and ensuring that administrative sessions are properly secured with additional authentication layers. The remediation process should also include regular monitoring of system logs for suspicious activities and implementing proper access controls to limit the potential impact of any successful exploitation attempts.