CVE-2015-2701 in CS-Cart
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in CS-Cart 4.2.4 allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of users for requests that change a user password via a request to profiles-update/.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/18/2025
The CVE-2015-2701 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw discovered in CS-Cart version 4.2.4, a widely used e-commerce platform. This vulnerability exists within the application's authentication and session management mechanisms, specifically in the profiles-update/ endpoint that handles user password modification requests. The flaw allows remote attackers to construct malicious web pages or links that can execute unauthorized password change operations on behalf of authenticated users without their knowledge or consent. The vulnerability stems from the absence of proper anti-CSRF tokens or validation mechanisms when processing sensitive user profile updates, particularly password changes, creating a significant security gap in the platform's protective measures.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs when an attacker crafts a malicious request that targets the profiles-update/ endpoint with specific parameters designed to modify user credentials. Since the application fails to validate the origin of the request or verify that it originated from a legitimate authenticated session, the system processes the request as if it came from a trusted source. This flaw is categorized under CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery vulnerabilities, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566.001 for initial access through spearphishing attachments. The vulnerability's impact is particularly severe because password changes represent a high-privilege operation that can completely compromise user accounts and potentially lead to broader system infiltration.
The operational implications of this vulnerability extend beyond simple account takeover scenarios, as it can enable attackers to gain persistent access to user accounts and potentially escalate privileges within the e-commerce platform. When combined with other vulnerabilities or attack vectors, this CSRF flaw can serve as a critical entry point for attackers seeking to compromise user data, manipulate transactions, or establish backdoors within the application. The vulnerability affects all authenticated users of the CS-Cart platform who have access to the profiles-update/ functionality, making it particularly dangerous in multi-user environments where administrators and regular customers share the same system. Organizations using this version of CS-Cart face significant risk of unauthorized account modifications, data breaches, and potential financial losses due to compromised customer credentials.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2015-2701 should prioritize immediate implementation of anti-CSRF protection mechanisms, including the deployment of unique, unpredictable tokens for each user session that must be validated before processing password change requests. The platform should implement proper request origin validation and enforce strict session management practices that ensure all sensitive operations require explicit user confirmation and verification. Security patches and updates should be applied immediately to address the underlying vulnerability, while organizations should consider implementing additional security controls such as multi-factor authentication for user accounts and monitoring for unauthorized password change attempts. Network-level protections including web application firewalls and intrusion detection systems can help detect and prevent exploitation attempts, while security awareness training for administrators can help identify potential social engineering attacks that might leverage this vulnerability. The remediation process should also include thorough security auditing of all application endpoints to identify and address similar CSRF vulnerabilities that may exist in other parts of the platform.