CVE-2018-10185 in TuziCMS
Summary
by MITRE
An issue was discovered in TuziCMS v2.0.6. There is a CSRF vulnerability that can add an admin account, as demonstrated by a history.pushState call.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/25/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-10185 resides within TuziCMS version 2.0.6, representing a cross-site request forgery flaw that enables unauthorized administrative account creation. This issue manifests through a specifically crafted history.pushState API call that manipulates the application's state to execute malicious requests without user consent. The vulnerability demonstrates a critical weakness in the content management system's request validation mechanisms, where the application fails to properly authenticate and verify the origin of administrative actions.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability exploits the absence of proper anti-CSRF tokens or validation mechanisms within the admin account creation endpoint. When an administrator navigates to a maliciously crafted page, the history.pushState method can be leveraged to manipulate the browser's navigation history while simultaneously triggering administrative functions. This technique bypasses traditional CSRF protection measures that rely on token validation, as the malicious request is executed in a context where the user's authenticated session is already established. The vulnerability specifically targets the administrative account creation functionality, allowing attackers to establish new administrative privileges within the CMS without proper authorization.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple privilege escalation, as it fundamentally compromises the integrity and security of the entire content management system. An attacker who successfully exploits this CSRF flaw can create new administrator accounts with full privileges, potentially gaining persistent access to the system and enabling further malicious activities. The vulnerability's exploitation requires minimal user interaction beyond visiting a malicious webpage, making it particularly dangerous in environments where administrators frequently browse untrusted websites. This weakness directly violates the principle of least privilege and can lead to complete system compromise, data exfiltration, and unauthorized modifications to website content.
Security mitigations for this vulnerability should focus on implementing robust anti-CSRF protection mechanisms throughout the application's administrative interface. The solution requires the integration of unique, unpredictable tokens that are validated on each administrative request, ensuring that requests originate from legitimate user interactions within the application context. Additionally, implementing proper session management and request origin validation can prevent unauthorized administrative actions. Organizations should also consider implementing Content Security Policy headers and ensuring that administrative functions require explicit user confirmation through multi-factor authentication. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses cross-site request forgery issues, and represents a clear violation of the ATT&CK technique T1078 for valid accounts, as it enables attackers to establish persistent administrative access through legitimate administrative functions. Regular security assessments and input validation reviews should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities in web applications.