CVE-2013-4881 in BigTree
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in core/admin/modules/users/create.php in BigTree CMS 4.0 RC2 and earlier allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of administrators for requests that create an administrative user via an add user action to index.php.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/01/2025
The CVE-2013-4881 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw within BigTree CMS versions 4.0 RC2 and earlier, specifically targeting the administrative user creation functionality. This vulnerability exists in the core/admin/modules/users/create.php file and enables remote attackers to manipulate administrative sessions by crafting malicious requests that appear to originate from legitimate administrators. The flaw specifically affects the add user action that redirects to index.php, creating a pathway for unauthorized privilege escalation through forged administrative requests.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the absence of proper anti-CSRF mechanisms within the administrative user creation endpoint. When administrators perform user creation actions, the application fails to validate the authenticity of the request origin or require a unique token that ties the request to the legitimate administrator session. Attackers can exploit this by constructing malicious web pages or email attachments that automatically submit forged requests to the vulnerable BigTree CMS installation, effectively creating new administrative accounts without proper authorization.
This vulnerability carries significant operational impact as it directly compromises the administrative integrity of BigTree CMS installations. An attacker who successfully exploits this flaw can establish persistent administrative access to the content management system, potentially leading to complete system compromise including data exfiltration, defacement, privilege escalation, and unauthorized content modification. The vulnerability particularly affects organizations relying on BigTree CMS for content management, as it undermines the fundamental security assumptions of administrative user management and session validation.
The flaw aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery vulnerabilities in web applications. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to T1078.004 (Valid Accounts: Cloud Accounts) and T1566 (Phishing) as attackers can leverage forged administrative requests to gain elevated privileges. Organizations should immediately implement mitigations including the addition of anti-CSRF tokens to all administrative actions, implementing proper request origin validation, and ensuring that all administrative endpoints require explicit authentication verification. The most effective remediation involves updating to BigTree CMS versions that include proper CSRF protection mechanisms and implementing web application firewalls that can detect and block suspicious administrative request patterns.