CVE-2016-20005 in REST-JSON Project
Summary
by MITRE • 01/01/2021
The REST/JSON project 7.x-1.x for Drupal allows user registration bypass, aka SA-CONTRIB-2016-033. NOTE: This project is not covered by Drupal's security advisory policy.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/29/2026
The REST/JSON project version 7.x-1.x for Drupal presents a critical user registration bypass vulnerability classified as SA-CONTRIB-2016-033, representing a significant security flaw that undermines the platform's authentication mechanisms. This vulnerability specifically affects the contrib module ecosystem rather than core Drupal functionality, yet its implications extend far beyond typical contrib module scope due to the fundamental nature of user registration controls within web applications. The issue stems from improper validation and authorization checks within the RESTful JSON API implementation that handles user account creation and management operations.
The technical flaw manifests through inadequate input sanitization and access control enforcement within the module's user registration endpoints. Attackers can exploit this weakness by crafting specially formatted API requests that bypass the standard user registration workflow, allowing unauthorized individuals to create accounts without proper authentication or authorization. This vulnerability operates at the application layer, specifically targeting the REST API implementation that should enforce strict validation protocols before permitting account creation. The flaw represents a classic case of insufficient access control measures and inadequate parameter validation, which can be categorized under CWE-285: Improper Authorization and CWE-20: Improper Input Validation within the Common Weakness Enumeration framework.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe as it enables malicious actors to gain unauthorized access to the Drupal platform through account creation, potentially leading to further exploitation including privilege escalation, data manipulation, or service disruption. Attackers can leverage this bypass to create multiple user accounts with varying permission levels, potentially establishing persistent access points within the application environment. The vulnerability's implications extend beyond immediate account creation as it fundamentally compromises the platform's security model and trust boundaries. This type of flaw aligns with ATT&CK technique T1078.004: Valid Accounts - Cloud Accounts, where adversaries establish unauthorized access through legitimate authentication mechanisms that have been circumvented through exploitation.
Organizations utilizing this vulnerable module must implement immediate mitigations including disabling the affected REST/JSON project functionality until a patched version is available, implementing additional API request filtering and monitoring, and conducting comprehensive security audits of all contrib modules. The vulnerability highlights the importance of security review processes for third-party modules and underscores that even non-core components can present critical risks to overall system security. Given that this module falls outside Drupal's official security advisory policy, organizations must assume responsibility for monitoring and addressing such vulnerabilities through their own security operations centers or by engaging with the specific module maintainers directly.