CVE-2014-4333 in Dolphin
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in administration/profiles.php in Dolphin 7.1.4 and earlier allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of administrators for requests that conduct SQL injection attacks via the members[] parameter, related to CVE-2014-3810.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/13/2017
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-4333 represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw within the administration profile management component of Dolphin 7.1.4 and earlier versions. This issue resides in the administration/profiles.php file and fundamentally undermines the security posture of affected systems by enabling unauthorized actors to exploit administrative authentication sessions. The flaw specifically manifests through the members[] parameter, which when manipulated by malicious actors can trigger unintended administrative actions. This vulnerability operates under the broader context of web application security where session management and request validation mechanisms fail to properly authenticate and authorize user requests. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it combines CSRF exploitation with SQL injection capabilities, creating a multi-layered threat that can potentially lead to complete system compromise.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and insufficient anti-CSRF token mechanisms within the administration interface. When administrators navigate to the profile management section and are subsequently subjected to malicious requests containing crafted members[] parameters, the application fails to properly verify the authenticity of the originating request. This weakness allows attackers to construct specially crafted web pages or exploit existing vulnerabilities in web browsers to submit requests that appear to originate from authenticated administrators. The vulnerability directly maps to CWE-352, which defines Cross-Site Request Forgery, and specifically relates to the lack of proper request origin verification and authentication token validation. The flaw enables attackers to perform administrative actions without proper authorization, making it particularly dangerous in environments where administrative privileges are required for sensitive operations.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple privilege escalation to encompass potential data compromise and system integrity violations. Attackers leveraging this vulnerability can execute SQL injection attacks through the administrative interface, potentially gaining access to sensitive database information including user credentials, system configurations, and other confidential data. The combination of CSRF and SQL injection creates a powerful attack vector that can lead to complete database compromise, unauthorized access to administrative functions, and potential lateral movement within the network. This vulnerability affects organizations using Dolphin versions up to 7.1.4 and represents a significant risk to web applications that rely on proper authentication and authorization mechanisms to protect administrative interfaces.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2014-4333 should focus on immediate implementation of anti-CSRF protection mechanisms combined with proper input validation and parameter sanitization. Organizations must ensure that all administrative interfaces implement robust anti-CSRF token validation that is tied to user sessions and properly validated on each request. The implementation should follow established security frameworks such as those recommended by OWASP for CSRF protection, which include generating unique tokens for each user session and validating these tokens against the originating request. Additionally, proper parameter validation and sanitization must be implemented to prevent SQL injection exploitation, with input filtering and prepared statement usage becoming essential defensive measures. System administrators should also implement network segmentation and monitoring to detect anomalous administrative activities that could indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability highlights the importance of maintaining up-to-date software versions and implementing comprehensive security testing procedures to identify and remediate similar issues before they can be exploited in production environments. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls and intrusion detection systems to monitor for suspicious patterns related to CSRF attacks and SQL injection attempts that could indicate exploitation of this and similar vulnerabilities.