CVE-2017-17908 in Responsive Realestate Script
Summary
by MITRE
PHP Scripts Mall Responsive Realestate Script has CSRF via admin/general.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/14/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-17908 affects the PHP Scripts Mall Responsive Realestate Script, representing a critical cross-site request forgery weakness that compromises administrative functions within the application. This flaw exists in the admin/general section of the software, making it particularly dangerous as it directly targets the administrative interface where sensitive configuration changes and user management operations occur. The vulnerability allows malicious actors to manipulate administrative actions without proper authorization, potentially leading to complete system compromise.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the absence of proper anti-CSRF tokens or validation mechanisms within the administrative endpoints. When administrators perform actions through the general configuration section, the application fails to verify that requests originate from legitimate administrative sessions. This design flaw enables attackers to craft malicious web pages or emails that, when visited by authenticated administrators, automatically submit unauthorized requests to the vulnerable application. The attack typically involves embedding malicious requests within HTML forms or JavaScript code that executes when the administrator visits compromised pages, exploiting the trust relationship between the browser and the vulnerable application.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data manipulation to encompass complete administrative control over the real estate script system. Successful exploitation could enable attackers to modify critical configuration settings, add or remove users, alter property listings, access sensitive data, and potentially establish persistent backdoors within the application. Given that this affects a real estate management platform, the consequences could include unauthorized property listings, financial data exposure, user account compromise, and potential denial of service conditions. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it requires no authentication from the attacker, as the malicious request leverages the administrator's existing authenticated session.
Security professionals should implement multiple layers of defense to mitigate this vulnerability, beginning with the immediate addition of anti-CSRF tokens to all administrative endpoints. The implementation should follow established security standards such as CWE-352, which specifically addresses cross-site request forgery vulnerabilities, and align with ATT&CK framework techniques related to privilege escalation and credential access. Organizations should also deploy Content Security Policy headers to limit the sources from which scripts can be executed, implement proper session management controls, and conduct regular security testing to identify similar vulnerabilities in other application components. Additionally, network-based intrusion detection systems should be configured to monitor for suspicious administrative activity patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts, while application firewalls can help filter out malformed requests that attempt to exploit CSRF weaknesses in the administrative interface.