CVE-2017-10680 in Piwigo
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Piwigo through 2.9.1 allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of users for requests to change a private album to public via a crafted request.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/09/2022
The CVE-2017-10680 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw discovered in Piwigo version 2.9.1 and earlier. This vulnerability resides within the web application's authentication and authorization mechanisms, specifically targeting the functionality that manages album privacy settings. The flaw enables malicious actors to manipulate user sessions and execute unauthorized actions without proper user consent or knowledge.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the absence of proper anti-CSRF tokens in the album privacy modification endpoints. When users navigate to specific pages within the Piwigo application, the system fails to validate that requests originate from legitimate user interactions rather than forged requests submitted by attackers. This weakness allows adversaries to craft malicious requests that, when executed by authenticated users, can change the privacy settings of private albums to public status.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data exposure, as it fundamentally compromises the integrity of user-controlled content management. Attackers can exploit this flaw to publicly share private photo albums that users intended to keep confidential, potentially exposing personal information, sensitive documentation, or proprietary content. The vulnerability affects the core functionality of the application's access control system, undermining user trust and potentially violating privacy regulations.
From a cybersecurity perspective, this vulnerability maps directly to CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery weaknesses in software applications. The flaw demonstrates poor input validation and insufficient session management practices that align with common ATT&CK techniques for privilege escalation and data exposure. Security professionals should note that this vulnerability represents a classic example of how insufficient anti-CSRF protections can lead to unauthorized administrative actions within web applications.
Mitigation strategies should focus on implementing robust anti-CSRF token mechanisms throughout the application's user interface. Developers must ensure that all state-changing operations require valid, time-bound tokens that are tied to specific user sessions. Additionally, implementing proper request origin validation and maintaining comprehensive audit logs of album privacy changes would help detect and prevent unauthorized modifications. Regular security audits should verify that all user-facing forms and API endpoints properly validate CSRF tokens to prevent similar vulnerabilities from emerging in future releases.