CVE-2012-4486 in Subuser
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the Subuser module before 6.x-1.8 for Drupal allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of arbitrary users for requests that switch the user to a subuser via unspecified vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/23/2019
The CVE-2012-4486 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw within the Subuser module for Drupal versions prior to 6.x-1.8. This vulnerability resides in the authentication mechanism of the module that manages subuser accounts, creating a significant security risk for Drupal installations that utilize this functionality. The flaw allows remote attackers to exploit the lack of proper CSRF protection mechanisms, enabling them to manipulate user sessions and potentially gain unauthorized access to accounts.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient validation of request origins within the subuser switching functionality. When a user attempts to switch to a subuser account, the system fails to properly verify that the request originates from a legitimate source within the same application context. This absence of proper origin validation creates a pathway for attackers to craft malicious requests that can be executed without the victim's knowledge or consent. The vulnerability specifically affects the authentication switching mechanism, where legitimate administrative or user operations can be hijacked through crafted cross-site requests that exploit the trust relationship between the browser and the web application.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple session hijacking, as it can lead to complete account compromise and unauthorized administrative access within Drupal installations. Attackers can leverage this flaw to perform unauthorized actions such as switching users to subuser accounts, potentially gaining access to restricted content, modifying user permissions, or executing administrative functions. The unspecified vectors mentioned in the description indicate that multiple attack surfaces may be exploitable, making the vulnerability particularly dangerous as defenders cannot easily predict all potential attack paths. This type of vulnerability directly violates the principle of least privilege and can result in significant data breaches or system compromise.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2012-4486 should prioritize immediate patching of the Subuser module to version 6.x-1.8 or later, which contains the necessary CSRF protection mechanisms. Organizations should implement additional security controls including proper input validation, origin checking, and token-based authentication for all user switching operations. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses cross-site request forgery weaknesses, and can be mapped to ATT&CK technique T1548.003 for abuse of privileged accounts. Security teams should also consider implementing web application firewalls to detect and block suspicious request patterns and establish monitoring procedures to identify unauthorized user switching attempts. Regular security audits of Drupal modules and their configurations remain essential for maintaining robust security postures against similar vulnerabilities.