CVE-2015-7293 in Zope
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerabilities in Zope Management Interface 4.3.7 and earlier, and Plone before 5.x.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/10/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2015-7293 represents a critical cross-site request forgery issue affecting the Zope Management Interface and Plone content management systems. This flaw resides in the web application's authentication and authorization mechanisms, specifically within the management interfaces that handle administrative operations. The vulnerability allows attackers to perform unauthorized actions on behalf of authenticated users without their knowledge or consent, creating a significant risk to system integrity and data security. The affected versions include Zope Management Interface 4.3.7 and earlier, along with Plone versions prior to 5.x, indicating a widespread impact across multiple generations of these platforms.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the absence of proper request validation mechanisms in the management interfaces. When users authenticate to the Zope Management Interface or Plone administrative panels, their sessions remain active and trusted within the browser context. However, the applications fail to implement anti-CSRF tokens or other protective measures that would verify the authenticity of requests originating from the legitimate user interface. Attackers can exploit this by crafting malicious web pages or emails containing embedded requests that, when clicked by an authenticated user, execute unintended administrative functions within the target application. This flaw directly aligns with CWE-352, which defines cross-site request forgery as a weakness where a web application fails to validate that requests originate from the same origin as the user's current session.
The operational impact of CVE-2015-7293 extends beyond simple data theft or modification, as it enables attackers to perform critical administrative operations that can compromise entire systems. An attacker could potentially delete content, modify user permissions, install malicious code, or even escalate privileges within the application environment. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it affects management interfaces that typically have elevated privileges and access to sensitive system functions. In the context of the ATT&CK framework, this vulnerability maps to the privilege escalation and persistence tactics, allowing adversaries to gain unauthorized access to administrative controls. The attack surface is broad since the vulnerability affects both Zope and Plone platforms, which are widely deployed across enterprise environments and content management scenarios.
Organizations utilizing affected versions of Zope or Plone should prioritize immediate remediation through patching or upgrading to versions that address the CSRF implementation gaps. The recommended mitigation strategy includes implementing proper CSRF token validation mechanisms that are generated per session and validated on each administrative request. Security teams should also consider additional protective measures such as implementing strict referer header validation, using SameSite cookies, and establishing proper session management practices. Organizations should conduct comprehensive security assessments to identify any potential exploitation attempts and monitor for unusual administrative activities that might indicate successful CSRF attacks. The vulnerability highlights the importance of maintaining up-to-date security practices in web application frameworks, as CSRF protections are fundamental requirements for maintaining application integrity and user trust in enterprise environments.