CVE-2014-4718 in Lunar CMS
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerabilities in Lunar CMS before 3.3-3 allow remote attackers to hijack the authentication of administrators for requests that (1) add Super users via a request to admin/user_create.php or conduct cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks via the (2) email or (3) subject parameter in contact_form.ext.php to admin/extensions.php.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/16/2025
The CVE-2014-4718 vulnerability represents a critical security flaw in Lunar CMS versions prior to 3.3-3, specifically targeting cross-site request forgery mechanisms that could enable unauthorized administrative actions. This vulnerability stems from inadequate validation of request origins and missing anti-CSRF tokens in critical administrative endpoints, creating a pathway for remote attackers to exploit the system's trust model. The flaw manifests in three distinct attack vectors that collectively demonstrate the severity of the authentication bypass issue.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability exposes fundamental weaknesses in the CMS's request validation framework. Attackers can leverage CSRF attacks to perform privileged actions through forged requests that appear legitimate to the server. The primary attack vector involves the admin/user_create.php endpoint where unauthorized users can create administrator accounts with elevated privileges. Additionally, the contact_form.ext.php endpoint in admin/extensions.php presents two secondary vectors through the email and subject parameters, which can be manipulated to inject malicious payloads. These parameters lack proper input sanitization and validation, creating opportunities for both privilege escalation and cross-site scripting exploitation.
The operational impact of CVE-2014-4718 extends beyond simple unauthorized access, as it enables complete administrative control of affected systems. An attacker who successfully exploits any of the three vectors can establish persistent backdoors through super user creation, potentially leading to full system compromise. The vulnerability's persistence stems from the absence of proper session validation and token-based authentication mechanisms, allowing attackers to forge requests that bypass standard authentication checks. This creates a particularly dangerous scenario where legitimate administrators remain unaware of unauthorized modifications to the system's user access controls.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery weaknesses in web applications, and demonstrates characteristics consistent with ATT&CK technique T1078 for valid accounts and T1548.001 for abuse of credentials. Organizations using affected Lunar CMS versions face significant risk of data breaches, system compromise, and unauthorized modifications to critical system components. The vulnerability's exploitation requires minimal technical expertise and can be automated, making it particularly attractive to malicious actors. Security professionals should prioritize immediate patching of affected systems, as the vulnerability provides direct pathways to administrative access without requiring complex attack chains or advanced exploitation techniques.
Mitigation strategies must include immediate implementation of proper CSRF token validation across all administrative endpoints, comprehensive input validation for all user-supplied parameters, and regular security audits of web application frameworks. Organizations should also implement additional security layers such as rate limiting, enhanced session management, and monitoring of administrative activities. The vulnerability highlights the importance of maintaining up-to-date security practices and demonstrates how seemingly simple authentication bypass flaws can lead to complete system compromise. Regular vulnerability assessments and security training for developers are essential to prevent similar issues in other web applications and frameworks.