CVE-2017-17827 in Piwigo
Summary
by MITRE
Piwigo 2.9.2 is vulnerable to Cross-Site Request Forgery via /admin.php?page=configuration§ion=main or /admin.php?page=batch_manager&mode=unit. An attacker can exploit this to coerce an admin user into performing unintended actions.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/18/2023
Piwigo version 2.9.2 contains a critical cross-site request forgery vulnerability that affects the administrative interface through two specific endpoints. The vulnerability exists in the configuration management section at /admin.php?page=configuration§ion=main and the batch management functionality at /admin.php?page=batch_manager&mode=unit. This flaw allows attackers to manipulate administrative actions by tricking authenticated users into executing unintended operations without their knowledge or consent.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the absence of proper anti-CSRF tokens or validation mechanisms within the targeted administrative endpoints. When an administrator visits a malicious website or clicks on a crafted link while authenticated to the Piwigo administration panel, the application processes requests without verifying the authenticity of the origin. This weakness enables attackers to perform sensitive operations such as modifying configuration settings or executing batch processing commands that could compromise the entire gallery system.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant as it provides attackers with elevated privileges within the Piwigo environment. An attacker who successfully exploits this CSRF flaw can modify critical system configurations, potentially disabling security features or altering user permissions. Additionally, the batch manager functionality could be abused to perform automated actions across multiple gallery items, leading to data corruption, unauthorized modifications, or even complete system compromise. The vulnerability essentially grants remote attackers the ability to act as administrators without requiring credentials.
Security professionals should address this vulnerability through immediate patching of the Piwigo application to version 2.9.3 or later, which contains the necessary CSRF protection mechanisms. Organizations should also implement additional network-level protections such as web application firewalls that can detect and block suspicious cross-site requests. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery weaknesses in web applications. From an attack framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to the ATT&CK technique T1078.004 for valid accounts and T1566 for credential harvesting, as it enables unauthorized administrative actions through session manipulation. System administrators should also review access controls and implement proper input validation to prevent similar issues in other parts of the application.