CVE-2013-0301 in ownCloud
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in apps/calendar/ajax/settings/settimezone in ownCloud before 4.0.12 allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of users for requests that change the timezone via the timezone parameter.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/31/2025
The CVE-2013-0301 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw discovered in the ownCloud calendar application prior to version 4.0.12. This vulnerability specifically affects the ajax/settings/settimezone endpoint within the calendar module, creating a significant security risk for users who rely on the platform for calendar management and synchronization. The flaw enables remote attackers to manipulate user sessions and execute unauthorized actions without proper authentication, fundamentally compromising the integrity of user accounts and their associated data.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from the absence of proper CSRF protection mechanisms within the timezone setting functionality. When users navigate to the calendar application and attempt to modify their timezone preferences through the affected endpoint, the application fails to validate the authenticity of the request source. Attackers can craft malicious web pages or exploit existing user sessions to submit forged requests that modify timezone settings, effectively hijacking authenticated sessions. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it operates through a parameter-based attack vector where the timezone parameter serves as the primary manipulation point, allowing attackers to execute unauthorized changes to user configurations.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple configuration changes, as it represents a fundamental breach in the application's session management and authentication mechanisms. Users who access the calendar application through vulnerable versions of ownCloud become susceptible to session hijacking attacks that could potentially lead to broader account compromise. The vulnerability's remote nature means that attackers do not require physical access to user systems or knowledge of specific user credentials to exploit the flaw. This makes it particularly dangerous in environments where users may be browsing untrusted websites or where social engineering attacks are prevalent, as simply visiting a malicious page could result in unauthorized timezone modifications that might serve as a stepping stone for more extensive attacks.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses cross-site request forgery conditions in web applications. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this flaw maps to T1566.001, representing the initial access phase through malicious web content, and T1078.004, involving legitimate credentials usage for persistence and privilege escalation. The attack vector leverages the trust relationship between the user's browser and the ownCloud application, exploiting the expectation that requests originating from authenticated sessions are legitimate. This particular vulnerability demonstrates how seemingly minor configuration settings can become critical attack surfaces when proper security controls are omitted.
Organizations utilizing vulnerable versions of ownCloud should immediately implement the available patch updates to address this CSRF vulnerability, as the fix typically involves implementing proper anti-CSRF tokens or similar validation mechanisms within the affected endpoints. Additional mitigations include deploying web application firewalls that can detect and block suspicious cross-site request patterns, implementing proper session management controls, and conducting regular security assessments to identify similar vulnerabilities in other application components. The incident highlights the importance of maintaining up-to-date security practices and the necessity of thorough security testing for all application functionalities, particularly those involving user session management and authentication controls.