CVE-2017-8388 in GeniXCMS
Summary
by MITRE
GeniXCMS 1.0.2 allows remote attackers to bypass the alertDanger MSG_USER_EMAIL_EXIST protection mechanism via a register.php?act=edit&id=1 request.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/02/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-8388 affects GeniXCMS version 1.0.2, a content management system that implements user registration and management functionalities. This flaw represents a critical security weakness in the application's user account validation mechanisms, specifically targeting the protection against duplicate email addresses during user registration processes. The vulnerability exists within the system's access control and data validation logic, creating a pathway for unauthorized users to circumvent established security measures that should prevent duplicate email registrations.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and access control checks within the registration module. When a user attempts to register with an email address that already exists in the system, the application should trigger an alert message indicating that the email is already registered and prevent the creation of duplicate accounts. However, the flaw allows attackers to bypass this protection mechanism by directly accessing the edit functionality of an existing user account through the specific URL pattern register.php?act=edit&id=1. This direct manipulation of the application's interface allows unauthorized individuals to modify existing user records, effectively circumventing the email uniqueness validation that should normally prevent duplicate registrations.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant as it enables attackers to exploit the system's user management functionality to create multiple accounts using the same email address or to modify existing user accounts in ways that undermine the integrity of the user database. This vulnerability directly violates the principle of least privilege and proper access control enforcement, allowing unauthorized modifications to user data and potentially enabling account takeover scenarios. The bypass of the MSG_USER_EMAIL_EXIST protection mechanism undermines the fundamental security model of user account management and could lead to various downstream security issues including credential stuffing attacks, spam account creation, and potential privilege escalation within the application's user hierarchy.
From a cybersecurity perspective, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-602, which addresses client-side enforcement of server-side security checks, and represents a clear violation of the principle of server-side validation. The flaw also relates to ATT&CK technique T1078 which covers valid accounts, as attackers could potentially use this vulnerability to manipulate user accounts and gain unauthorized access to legitimate user sessions. Organizations utilizing GeniXCMS 1.0.2 should consider immediate mitigation strategies including implementing proper input validation, enforcing strict access controls on administrative functions, and ensuring that all user account modifications require proper authentication and authorization checks. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of server-side validation over client-side security measures and highlights the necessity of comprehensive security testing including penetration testing and code review processes to identify such bypass mechanisms in web applications.
Mitigation efforts should focus on implementing proper access control checks that validate user permissions before allowing modifications to existing accounts, strengthening the input validation mechanisms to prevent direct URL manipulation, and ensuring that all user registration and modification operations enforce email uniqueness constraints regardless of the access path used. Additionally, implementing proper logging and monitoring of user account modifications can help detect and respond to exploitation attempts. The vulnerability serves as a reminder of the critical need for robust security architecture that does not rely solely on client-side validation or URL parameter manipulation to enforce security policies, and emphasizes the importance of defense-in-depth strategies in web application security.