CVE-2015-6545 in Cerb
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in ajax.php in Cerb before 7.0.4 allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of administrators for requests that add an administrator account via a saveWorkerPeek action.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/18/2024
The CVE-2015-6545 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw discovered in Cerb's ajax.php component prior to version 7.0.4. This vulnerability specifically targets the administrative functionality of the Cerb platform, creating a significant security risk for organizations relying on this customer relationship management system. The flaw enables remote attackers to exploit the authentication mechanism by crafting malicious requests that can add new administrator accounts through the saveWorkerPeek action, effectively allowing unauthorized individuals to gain elevated privileges within the system.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the absence of proper anti-CSRF token validation within the ajax.php endpoint. When administrators interact with the web interface to manage worker accounts, the system fails to verify that requests originate from legitimate administrative sessions rather than maliciously crafted web pages. This omission creates a fundamental flaw in the application's security model where the saveWorkerPeek action does not require authentication tokens or session validation before executing administrative operations. Attackers can leverage this by embedding malicious JavaScript or HTML forms in compromised websites or email attachments that automatically submit requests to the vulnerable ajax.php endpoint, thereby executing unauthorized administrative actions without the knowledge or consent of the legitimate administrator.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple privilege escalation, as it fundamentally undermines the security posture of organizations using affected versions of Cerb. Successful exploitation allows attackers to create new administrator accounts with full system access, potentially leading to complete system compromise, data exfiltration, and unauthorized modifications to customer relationship management data. This vulnerability particularly affects organizations that rely heavily on Cerb for managing customer interactions, as the compromise of administrative accounts could result in widespread data breaches and loss of sensitive customer information. The remote nature of the attack means that threat actors do not require physical access to the network or system, making it an attractive target for automated exploitation campaigns.
Organizations should immediately implement mitigations including updating to Cerb version 7.0.4 or later, which includes proper CSRF token validation mechanisms. Additional protective measures include implementing web application firewalls to detect and block suspicious requests, configuring proper session management controls, and conducting regular security assessments of web applications. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which categorizes cross-site request forgery as a common web application security flaw, and follows ATT&CK technique T1078 for valid accounts and T1566 for credential access through social engineering. Security teams should also consider implementing additional monitoring for unusual administrative account creation patterns and establish robust incident response procedures to address potential exploitation attempts.