CVE-2018-11092 in Admin Notes Plugin
Summary
by MITRE
An issue was discovered in the Admin Notes plugin 1.1 for MyBB. CSRF allows an attacker to remotely delete all admin notes via an admin/index.php?empty=table (aka Clear Table) action.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/14/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-11092 resides within the Admin Notes plugin version 1.1 for MyBB, a widely used open-source bulletin board system. This security flaw represents a critical cross-site request forgery vulnerability that enables unauthorized attackers to execute malicious actions against authenticated administrators. The vulnerability specifically targets the administrative interface of MyBB, where the plugin fails to implement proper anti-CSRF mechanisms for the table clearing functionality. The affected endpoint admin/index.php?empty=table provides a direct method for clearing all administrative notes stored within the system, making it a prime target for exploitation.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from the absence of anti-CSRF tokens or validation mechanisms within the plugin's administrative interface. When an administrator navigates to the admin notes management section and attempts to clear the table, the system should verify that the request originates from a legitimate administrative session. However, the plugin lacks this essential security check, allowing an attacker to craft a malicious payload that, when executed by an authenticated administrator, will automatically perform the table clearing action without proper authorization. This flaw operates under the Common Weakness Enumeration category CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery vulnerabilities. The vulnerability's exploitation requires minimal technical skill and can be accomplished through simple HTML forms or JavaScript payloads that leverage the administrator's existing authenticated session.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data deletion, as it represents a significant compromise of administrative control over the MyBB system. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability can effectively erase all administrative notes that may contain critical information about system configurations, security events, or administrative activities. This deletion can obscure security incidents, remove important audit trails, and potentially facilitate further attacks by eliminating evidence of previous compromise attempts. The attack vector is particularly dangerous because it requires no authentication credentials from the attacker, only the ability to induce an administrator to click on a malicious link or visit a compromised website. This aligns with the ATT&CK framework's technique T1078.004, which covers legitimate credentials obtained through social engineering or session hijacking, and demonstrates how a single vulnerability can enable broader compromise of system integrity and audit capabilities.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on implementing proper anti-CSRF protections within the plugin's administrative interface. The recommended approach involves generating and validating unique tokens for each administrative action, ensuring that requests to the table clearing endpoint include proper authentication verification before execution. System administrators should immediately update to the latest version of the Admin Notes plugin where this vulnerability has been patched, and consider implementing additional security measures such as two-factor authentication for administrative accounts. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of input validation and proper access control mechanisms, as outlined in the OWASP Top Ten security principles, particularly in relation to insufficient logging and monitoring that could prevent such attacks from going unnoticed. Organizations should also implement web application firewalls and security monitoring solutions to detect and prevent exploitation attempts targeting known administrative endpoints.