CVE-2018-0520 in FS010W
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in FS010W firmware FS010W_00_V1.3.0 and earlier allows an attacker to hijack the authentication of administrators via unspecified vectors.
If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/08/2020
The CVE-2018-0520 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw discovered in the FS010W firmware version 1.3.0 and earlier releases. This vulnerability resides within network security devices manufactured by a specific vendor, where the device fails to implement proper CSRF protection mechanisms for administrative functions. The flaw allows malicious actors to exploit the absence of anti-CSRF tokens or validation mechanisms, enabling unauthorized individuals to perform administrative actions on behalf of legitimate users without their knowledge or consent. The vulnerability specifically targets the authentication handling process within the device's web-based management interface, creating a significant security risk for network administrators who rely on these devices for network control and monitoring.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the device's web application failing to validate the origin of requests made to administrative endpoints. When administrators access the device's management interface, the system should verify that requests originate from legitimate sources and contain appropriate authentication tokens or CSRF protection mechanisms. However, the FS010W firmware lacks these essential protections, allowing attackers to craft malicious web pages or exploit existing user sessions to execute administrative commands. The unspecified vectors mentioned in the description indicate that the vulnerability can be triggered through various attack scenarios including phishing campaigns, malicious websites, or compromised network environments where users might inadvertently interact with crafted payloads. This weakness directly violates security principles outlined in the OWASP Top Ten and represents a classic example of insufficient anti-CSRF protection mechanisms.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple privilege escalation, as it fundamentally compromises the integrity of the device's administrative controls. An attacker who successfully exploits this CSRF vulnerability could gain unauthorized access to critical network management functions, potentially leading to complete network compromise. The administrative hijacking capability allows malicious actors to modify firewall rules, change network configurations, alter user permissions, or even disable security features. This threat scenario aligns with the attack pattern described in the MITRE ATT&CK framework under the T1078 technique for Valid Accounts and T1068 technique for Exploitation for Privilege Escalation. The vulnerability's impact is particularly severe because network administrators typically maintain elevated privileges when accessing device management interfaces, making each successful CSRF attack a potential gateway to broader network infiltration and control.
Organizations utilizing affected FS010W devices should immediately implement multiple layers of mitigation strategies to address this vulnerability. The primary recommendation involves upgrading to firmware versions that include proper CSRF protection mechanisms, which should be available from the vendor's official support channels. Network administrators should also implement additional security controls such as restricting administrative access to specific IP ranges, implementing network segmentation, and deploying web application firewalls that can detect and prevent CSRF attacks. The mitigation approach should follow the principle of least privilege, ensuring that administrative access is limited to authorized personnel and that multi-factor authentication is implemented where possible. Security monitoring should be enhanced to detect unusual administrative activities that might indicate CSRF exploitation attempts, and regular security audits should verify that all network devices are running patched firmware versions. This vulnerability serves as a reminder of the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date security controls and implementing defense-in-depth strategies to protect network infrastructure from such persistent threats. The vulnerability also highlights the necessity of following security standards such as those defined in ISO/IEC 27001 and NIST cybersecurity frameworks to ensure comprehensive protection against common web application vulnerabilities like CSRF attacks.