CVE-2014-6632 in Joomla
Summary
by MITRE
Joomla! 2.5.x before 2.5.25, 3.x before 3.2.4, and 3.3.x before 3.3.4 allows remote attackers to authenticate and bypass intended access restrictions via vectors involving LDAP authentication.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/02/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-6632 represents a critical authentication bypass flaw affecting multiple versions of the Joomla versions 2.5.x prior to 2.5.25, 3.x prior to 3.2.4, and 3.3.x prior to 3.3.4. The flaw allows remote attackers to circumvent intended access controls and authenticate as users without proper credentials, potentially leading to unauthorized system access and data compromise.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability stems from improper validation of LDAP authentication responses within the Joomla installation.
The operational impact of CVE-2014-6632 extends beyond simple unauthorized access to encompass potential complete system compromise. An attacker exploiting this vulnerability could gain access to sensitive administrative functions, modify or delete content, access user databases, and potentially escalate privileges to root or administrator levels depending on the system configuration. The remote nature of the attack means that exploitation does not require physical access to the system, making it particularly dangerous for web applications that are publicly accessible. This vulnerability directly maps to CWE-287, which addresses improper authentication issues, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1078 for valid accounts and T1566 for credential harvesting.
Organizations running affected Joomla project, which address the LDAP authentication validation flaws. System administrators should also consider disabling LDAP authentication if it is not essential for their operations, implementing additional network-level controls such as firewall rules restricting access to authentication endpoints, and monitoring for suspicious authentication attempts. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper input validation and authentication flow control in web applications, particularly when integrating with external authentication services like LDAP. Regular security audits and vulnerability assessments should be conducted to identify similar authentication bypass opportunities in other web frameworks and applications, as this type of flaw can often be exploited in combination with other vulnerabilities to achieve more severe impacts.