CVE-2018-10223 in YzmCMS
Summary
by MITRE
An issue was discovered in YzmCMS 3.8. There is a CSRF vulnerability that can add an admin account via /index.php/admin/admin_manage/add.html.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/30/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-10223 represents a cross-site request forgery flaw within YzmCMS version 3.8 that poses significant administrative risks to affected systems. This weakness allows unauthorized attackers to manipulate the content management system by creating new administrative accounts without proper authentication. The specific attack vector targets the admin management interface at the URL path /index.php/admin/admin_manage/add.html where the CSRF protection mechanisms fail to validate the origin of requests. This type of vulnerability falls under CWE-352, which categorizes cross-site request forgery as a critical security weakness that enables attackers to perform actions on behalf of authenticated users. The flaw exists because the application does not implement proper anti-CSRF tokens or referer validation checks when processing administrative account creation requests.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability requires an attacker to craft a malicious webpage or email attachment that, when visited or opened by an authenticated administrator, automatically submits a request to the vulnerable CMS endpoint. This attack typically involves embedding a hidden form or javascript code that triggers the account creation process with predetermined credentials. The vulnerability demonstrates a fundamental failure in the application's security architecture, specifically in how it handles sensitive administrative operations. According to ATT&CK framework tactic T1078, this represents a privilege escalation technique where attackers can establish persistence by creating new administrative accounts. The impact extends beyond simple account creation as it provides attackers with full administrative privileges over the CMS, potentially enabling them to modify content, access sensitive data, or install malicious code.
The operational impact of CVE-2018-10223 is severe as it fundamentally compromises the integrity and confidentiality of the affected CMS installations. Once an attacker successfully exploits this vulnerability, they gain complete control over the administrative interface, which can lead to complete system compromise. The vulnerability affects the authentication and authorization mechanisms of the CMS, potentially allowing attackers to modify user permissions, access databases, or even execute arbitrary code if the CMS has additional vulnerabilities. Organizations running YzmCMS 3.8 are particularly at risk since the flaw exists in the core administrative functionality, making it a high-priority target for exploitation. The vulnerability also affects the system's availability as attackers could potentially lock out legitimate administrators or create multiple accounts to overwhelm the system. Security professionals should note that this vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1190, which describes the exploitation of web application vulnerabilities to gain unauthorized access.
Mitigation strategies for this CSRF vulnerability should include immediate implementation of anti-CSRF tokens in all administrative forms and requests, proper referer header validation, and session management improvements. Organizations should apply the vendor's official patch or upgrade to a secure version of YzmCMS that addresses this specific flaw. The implementation of Content Security Policy headers can provide additional protection against certain types of CSRF attacks by restricting the sources from which content can be loaded. Network-level protections such as web application firewalls should be configured to monitor and block suspicious requests to administrative endpoints. Security teams should also implement regular vulnerability scanning and penetration testing to identify similar weaknesses in other applications and systems. The fix should include proper validation of request origins and implementation of time-based tokens that expire after a single use, following security best practices outlined in NIST SP 800-63B for authentication and session management. Additionally, administrators should be trained to recognize potential CSRF attack vectors and implement least privilege access controls to minimize the impact of successful exploitation attempts.