CVE-2018-15177 in Gxlcms
Summary
by MITRE
In Gxlcms 2.0, a news/index.php?s=Admin-Admin-Insert CSRF attack can add an administrator account.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/01/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-15177 represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw within the Gxlcms 2.0 content management system. This vulnerability exists in the news/index.php endpoint where the application fails to properly validate and authenticate administrative actions, specifically the insertion of new administrator accounts. The flaw allows an attacker to craft malicious requests that, when executed by an authenticated administrator, will create new administrative user accounts without proper authorization. This represents a fundamental breakdown in the application's security controls and demonstrates a classic CSRF attack vector that can be exploited to gain persistent administrative access to the system.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from the application's failure to implement proper anti-CSRF token validation mechanisms within the administrative account creation functionality. When an administrator navigates to the news/index.php?s=Admin-Admin-Insert endpoint, the system should require a valid anti-CSRF token to verify that the request originates from a legitimate administrative session. However, the Gxlcms 2.0 implementation lacks this critical security control, allowing attackers to construct malicious web pages or email attachments that, when visited by an authenticated administrator, automatically submit requests to create new admin accounts. This weakness directly aligns with CWE-352, which defines Cross-Site Request Forgery as a security vulnerability where the application fails to verify the authenticity of requests originating from authorized users.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and far-reaching for organizations using Gxlcms 2.0. An attacker who successfully exploits this CSRF vulnerability can establish persistent administrative access to the content management system, enabling them to modify or delete content, alter user permissions, access sensitive data, and potentially escalate their privileges further within the network. The attack requires minimal sophistication as it only necessitates that an administrator visits a malicious webpage, making it particularly dangerous in environments where administrators frequently browse the internet or receive emails from untrusted sources. This vulnerability essentially provides an attacker with a backdoor mechanism to maintain long-term access to the system, which aligns with ATT&CK technique T1078.004 for Valid Accounts and T1548.002 for Abuse of Cloud Infrastructure, as the compromised administrative account can be used for further system compromise.
Organizations should immediately implement multiple layers of mitigation strategies to address this vulnerability. The most critical immediate action involves implementing proper anti-CSRF token validation across all administrative functions within the Gxlcms 2.0 system, ensuring that each request contains a unique, session-specific token that cannot be forged or reused by attackers. Additionally, administrators should be educated about the risks of visiting untrusted websites and opening suspicious email attachments, as the attack vector relies heavily on social engineering to convince administrators to execute malicious requests. The system should also be configured to enforce strict session management controls, including session timeouts and secure cookie attributes to prevent session hijacking attacks that could compound the effects of this CSRF vulnerability. Organizations should consider implementing network segmentation and monitoring solutions to detect unusual administrative account creation activities, which would serve as an early warning system for potential exploitation attempts. Furthermore, regular security assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities within the application's codebase, particularly focusing on administrative functions that lack proper input validation and authentication controls. The remediation process should also include updating to the latest version of Gxlcms if available, as this vulnerability may have been addressed in subsequent releases through proper implementation of CSRF protection mechanisms and enhanced authentication controls.