CVE-2014-9502 in Open Atrium
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerabilities in unspecified sub modules in the Open Atrium module 7.x-2.x before 7.x-2.26 for Drupal allow remote attackers to hijack the authentication of unknown victims via vectors related to menu callbacks.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/02/2021
The CVE-2014-9502 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery issue affecting the Open Atrium module version 7.x-2.x prior to 7.x-2.26 within the Drupal content management system. This vulnerability resides in unspecified submodules of the Open Atrium distribution, which is a popular collaborative platform built on Drupal. The flaw specifically impacts menu callback implementations that lack proper CSRF protection mechanisms, creating a significant security risk for Drupal sites utilizing this module. The vulnerability's classification under CWE-352 indicates it falls squarely within the category of Cross-Site Request Forgery attacks, where attackers can manipulate authenticated users into performing unintended actions without their knowledge or consent.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through maliciously crafted requests that leverage the absence of anti-CSRF tokens in certain menu callbacks within the Open Atrium module. Attackers can craft specially formatted HTTP requests that, when executed by an authenticated user, will be processed by the vulnerable menu callbacks without proper authentication verification. This allows threat actors to perform actions such as creating new user accounts, modifying existing content, changing administrative settings, or executing other privileged operations on behalf of legitimate users. The vulnerability's impact extends beyond simple data manipulation to potentially enable full administrative control over affected Drupal installations. The attack vector involves tricking victims into visiting malicious websites or clicking on compromised links that automatically submit requests to the vulnerable Open Atrium module endpoints.
The operational impact of CVE-2014-9502 is substantial for organizations running Drupal sites with the Open Atrium module, as successful exploitation can lead to complete compromise of the affected systems. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability to gain unauthorized access to sensitive data, modify content, create backdoor accounts, and potentially escalate privileges to full administrative control. The vulnerability's presence in the menu callback system means that multiple attack surfaces are exposed, potentially affecting various functionalities within the Open Atrium distribution including user management, content creation, and configuration settings. Organizations using this module without proper patches are at risk of unauthorized access and data breaches, with potential downstream effects including data loss, service disruption, and compliance violations. The vulnerability's exploitation can occur without requiring any special privileges from the attacker beyond the ability to craft malicious web requests.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2014-9502 primarily involve immediate patching of the Open Atrium module to version 7.x-2.26 or later, which contains the necessary CSRF protection mechanisms. System administrators should also implement additional security measures such as monitoring for unusual administrative activities, implementing web application firewalls, and ensuring proper input validation for all menu callback endpoints. The vulnerability's remediation aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566.002 for credential access through web application attacks, and T1078.004 for valid accounts and legitimate credentials. Organizations should also consider implementing CSRF token validation at multiple layers of their application architecture, including custom menu callbacks, and establishing regular security auditing procedures to identify similar vulnerabilities in other modules. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning should be conducted to ensure that all Drupal modules remain up-to-date with the latest security patches and that proper CSRF protection mechanisms are implemented across all application components.