CVE-2016-4879 in BaserCMS
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in baserCMS plugin Mail version 3.0.10 and earlier allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of administrators via unspecified vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/25/2020
The CVE-2016-4879 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw discovered in the baserCMS plugin Mail version 3.0.10 and earlier releases. This vulnerability resides within the web application's authentication mechanism and specifically targets administrator accounts, making it particularly dangerous for content management systems that rely on administrative privileges for critical operations. The vulnerability allows remote attackers to manipulate authenticated sessions without possessing valid credentials, creating a significant risk for organizations using baserCMS platforms.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the absence of proper anti-CSRF protection mechanisms within the plugin's request handling processes. When administrators interact with the baserCMS system, particularly through the Mail plugin functionality, the application fails to validate the origin of requests or implement token-based verification. This weakness enables attackers to craft malicious requests that appear to originate from legitimate administrative sessions, leveraging the trust relationship between the web application and authenticated users. The unspecified vectors mentioned in the description suggest that multiple attack surfaces within the plugin could be exploited, potentially including form submissions, API endpoints, or administrative actions.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple unauthorized access attempts, as it provides attackers with the capability to perform administrative actions that could completely compromise the affected system. Attackers could potentially modify user permissions, delete content, alter configuration settings, or even execute arbitrary code if the system architecture permits such operations through the Mail plugin interface. The vulnerability's remote nature means that attackers do not require physical access to the system or knowledge of administrative credentials, making it particularly attractive for automated exploitation campaigns. Organizations using vulnerable versions of baserCMS could face complete system compromise, data breaches, or unauthorized modifications to their web presence.
Organizations should immediately upgrade to the patched version of the baserCMS plugin Mail to address this vulnerability, as no effective workarounds exist for the CSRF protection mechanism. The mitigation strategy should include comprehensive security assessments of all installed plugins and components within the baserCMS environment, particularly focusing on authentication and session management controls. Security teams should implement network monitoring to detect suspicious administrative activities and establish incident response procedures for potential exploitation attempts. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery weaknesses, and represents a direct violation of the principle of least privilege and proper session management as outlined in various cybersecurity frameworks. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this as a privilege escalation technique, where attackers leverage web application vulnerabilities to gain elevated system access through existing authenticated sessions.