CVE-2016-4882 in BaserCMS
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in baserCMS 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-2016-4882 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw within baserCMS versions 3.0.10 and earlier, fundamentally compromising the security integrity of administrator sessions. This vulnerability classifies under CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery attacks where an attacker can induce users to perform actions they did not intend or authorize. The flaw enables remote attackers to hijack administrator authentication sessions through unspecified vectors, creating a severe risk to system confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the absence of proper anti-CSRF mechanisms within the baserCMS framework. Attackers can exploit this weakness by crafting malicious web pages or email attachments that, when visited or opened by an authenticated administrator, automatically submit requests to the vulnerable CMS application. These requests appear legitimate because they originate from the administrator's browser with valid session cookies, bypassing traditional authentication mechanisms. The unspecified vectors suggest that the vulnerability could be triggered through various attack surfaces including form submissions, API endpoints, or even simple image requests that initiate background HTTP operations.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple unauthorized access, potentially enabling attackers to execute administrative functions such as user account modifications, content manipulation, configuration changes, and data exfiltration. Given that administrators possess elevated privileges within the CMS, successful exploitation could lead to complete system compromise. The vulnerability affects the authentication and authorization mechanisms, violating fundamental security principles outlined in the OWASP Top Ten and the NIST Cybersecurity Framework. This weakness creates a persistent threat vector that could remain undetected for extended periods, allowing attackers to maintain access and expand their foothold within the organization's digital infrastructure.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2016-4882 should prioritize immediate patching of affected baserCMS installations to version 3.0.11 or later, which includes proper CSRF token implementation. Organizations should implement additional protective measures such as Content Security Policy headers, referer validation, and strict cookie security attributes including HttpOnly and Secure flags. The implementation of anti-CSRF tokens for all state-changing operations represents the primary defense mechanism, aligning with ATT&CK technique T1559.001 for credential access and T1078.004 for valid accounts. Network monitoring should be enhanced to detect anomalous authentication patterns, and regular security audits should verify proper implementation of CSRF protection mechanisms. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date software components and implementing defense-in-depth strategies as recommended by ISO/IEC 27001 standards for information security management.