CVE-2013-2158 in Services
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the Services module 6.x-3.x and 7.x-3.x before 7.x-3.4 for Drupal allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of unspecified victims via unknown vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/17/2019
The CVE-2013-2158 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw within the Services module for Drupal versions 6.x-3.x and 7.x-3.x prior to 7.x-3.4. This vulnerability resides in the web application framework's authentication handling mechanisms, specifically targeting the module's ability to verify legitimate user requests. The flaw enables malicious actors to exploit the trust relationship between authenticated users and the web application, potentially allowing unauthorized actions to be performed on behalf of victims without their knowledge or consent. The vulnerability's impact extends across multiple Drupal versions, indicating a widespread issue within the Services module's architecture that affected numerous web applications relying on this framework.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from inadequate validation of request origins and lack of proper anti-CSRF token mechanisms within the Services module's API endpoints. Attackers can craft malicious requests that appear to originate from legitimate authenticated users, exploiting the absence of robust session validation checks. The unspecified vectors mentioned in the description suggest that the vulnerability could be triggered through various attack scenarios including email-based exploits, malicious websites, or compromised third-party integrations. This weakness directly violates the principle of least privilege and demonstrates poor input validation practices that are commonly classified under CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery vulnerabilities. The module's API endpoints fail to properly verify the authenticity of requests, creating a pathway for attackers to manipulate authenticated sessions through crafted HTTP requests that bypass normal authentication controls.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe for any organization running affected Drupal versions, as it allows remote attackers to perform authenticated actions on behalf of legitimate users. This could result in unauthorized data modifications, account takeovers, privilege escalation, or even complete system compromise depending on the permissions of the targeted accounts. The vulnerability affects the integrity and availability of web applications, potentially leading to data breaches, service disruption, and loss of user trust. Organizations using the Services module for API integrations face heightened risk since attackers could exploit this weakness to access sensitive data or manipulate web services that are typically protected by user authentication. The attack surface expands significantly when considering that the Services module often provides RESTful APIs that may be used by mobile applications, third-party systems, or internal services, making the potential impact of exploitation more extensive than traditional web application attacks.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2013-2158 should prioritize immediate patching of the Services module to version 7.x-3.4 or higher, which includes the necessary CSRF protection mechanisms. Organizations should also implement additional defensive measures such as enforcing strict Content Security Policy headers, implementing proper anti-CSRF token validation, and monitoring for suspicious API activity patterns. Network-level protections including web application firewalls and request filtering can provide additional layers of defense against exploitation attempts. Security teams should conduct comprehensive vulnerability assessments to identify all instances of the affected module across their infrastructure and ensure proper access controls are implemented for API endpoints. The remediation process should align with industry best practices for vulnerability management and security hardening, following frameworks such as those outlined in the NIST Cybersecurity Framework. Regular security auditing and monitoring of web application traffic will help detect potential exploitation attempts and ensure continued protection against similar vulnerabilities in the future. This vulnerability serves as a reminder of the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches and implementing robust authentication mechanisms in web applications.