CVE-2014-3552 in Moodle
Summary
by MITRE
The Shibboleth authentication plugin in auth/shibboleth/index.php in Moodle through 2.3.11, 2.4.x before 2.4.11, and 2.5.x before 2.5.7 does not check whether a session ID is empty, which allows remote authenticated users to hijack sessions via crafted plugin interaction.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/04/2017
The vulnerability described in CVE-2014-3552 affects the Shibboleth authentication plugin within Moodle learning management systems across multiple versions including 2.3.11, 2.4.11, and 2.5.7. This issue stems from a critical flaw in the session management mechanism where the authentication plugin fails to validate whether a session identifier is properly initialized or contains valid data. The absence of this validation check creates a significant security gap that can be exploited by authenticated attackers to gain unauthorized access to user sessions. The vulnerability specifically resides in the auth/shibboleth/index.php file which handles the Shibboleth authentication flow and session establishment processes. When a user attempts to authenticate through the Shibboleth plugin, the system should verify that the session ID is properly generated and contains valid cryptographic entropy before proceeding with session establishment.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs when an attacker with valid credentials manipulates the authentication flow to submit empty or malformed session identifiers to the Shibboleth plugin. This flaw allows for session hijacking attacks where malicious users can intercept and assume the identity of legitimate users within the Moodle environment. The lack of session ID validation creates a condition where the system may accept null or empty session tokens, enabling attackers to bypass normal authentication mechanisms and establish unauthorized sessions. This type of vulnerability falls under CWE-284, which specifically addresses improper access control, and represents a classic session management weakness that can lead to privilege escalation and unauthorized system access. The vulnerability demonstrates a failure in input validation and authentication flow control that directly violates security best practices for session management.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple session hijacking to potentially compromise the entire Moodle environment's user authentication system. When exploited, this vulnerability allows attackers to impersonate legitimate users and gain access to their course materials, personal information, and administrative functions depending on the user's role within the system. The affected versions of Moodle represent a substantial user base of educational institutions that rely on Shibboleth for single sign-on functionality, making this vulnerability particularly dangerous in academic and corporate training environments. The attack vector requires only authenticated access to the system, meaning that an attacker who has already established a valid user session can leverage this vulnerability to escalate their privileges and gain deeper access to the platform. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1548.005 which covers abuse of credentials for privilege escalation and session hijacking.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should immediately implement mitigations including applying the patched versions of Moodle that address this specific session validation flaw. The recommended approach involves ensuring that all session identifiers are properly validated before being accepted into the authentication system, implementing robust input sanitization for authentication parameters, and conducting thorough security reviews of all authentication plugins. System administrators should also consider implementing additional monitoring for suspicious authentication patterns and session establishment activities. The vulnerability highlights the importance of proper session management practices and demonstrates how seemingly minor validation checks can create significant security risks in authentication systems. Organizations should also review their Shibboleth configuration and ensure that proper session handling mechanisms are in place to prevent similar issues in other authentication components. The remediation process should include not only applying the security patches but also conducting security awareness training for administrators to understand the importance of session validation and authentication flow integrity in preventing privilege escalation attacks.