CVE-2013-2628 in Leed
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerabilities in action.php in Leed (Light Feed), possibly before 1.5 Stable, allow remote attackers to hijack the authentication of administrators for unspecified requests, related to the lack of an anti-CSRF token.
If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/03/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2013-2628 represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw in the Leed (Light Feed) content management system. This vulnerability exists in the action.php file and affects versions prior to 1.5 Stable, creating a significant security risk for administrators who use the platform. The flaw stems from the complete absence of anti-CSRF tokens in the application's authentication mechanisms, leaving administrators exposed to malicious attacks that can hijack their authenticated sessions. The lack of proper CSRF protection means that attackers can craft malicious requests that will be executed by administrators without their knowledge or consent, effectively bypassing the authentication process.
From a technical perspective, this vulnerability operates by exploiting the fundamental weakness in web application security where session tokens are not properly validated across different request contexts. The absence of anti-CSRF tokens in the action.php script creates a pathway for attackers to perform unauthorized administrative actions on behalf of authenticated users. According to CWE-352, this represents a classic cross-site request forgery vulnerability where the application fails to validate that requests originate from legitimate sources within the same session context. The flaw allows remote attackers to manipulate the application's behavior through carefully crafted requests that leverage the administrator's existing authenticated session.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and far-reaching for organizations using Leed CMS. Administrators who are logged into the system can be tricked into executing malicious actions through social engineering techniques or by visiting compromised websites. Attackers can potentially modify content, delete database entries, alter user permissions, or perform any administrative function that the legitimate administrator could access. The vulnerability's severity is amplified by its ability to affect unspecified requests, meaning the scope of potential damage is broad and unpredictable. This type of attack falls under the ATT&CK technique T1566, specifically focusing on credential access through social engineering and session hijacking methods.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on implementing proper anti-CSRF token mechanisms throughout the application. Organizations should immediately upgrade to version 1.5 Stable or later, which presumably includes the necessary CSRF protection measures. The implementation of unique, unpredictable tokens for each user session should be enforced for all state-changing operations within the application. Additionally, developers should ensure that all requests are validated against the expected token values before processing any administrative actions. Security headers such as Content Security Policy should also be implemented to further protect against cross-site scripting and related attacks that could compound the impact of this vulnerability. The remediation process must include comprehensive security testing to verify that all application endpoints properly implement CSRF protection mechanisms.