CVE-2018-15846 in fledrCMS
Summary
by MITRE
An issue was discovered in fledrCMS through 2014-02-03. There is a CSRF vulnerability that can change the administrator's password via index.php?p=done&savedata=1.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/04/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-15846 represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw within the fledrCMS content management system version 2014-02-03 and earlier. This vulnerability resides in the administrative interface of the CMS, specifically in the password change functionality that is accessible through the index.php?p=done&savedata=1 endpoint. The flaw allows an attacker to manipulate the administrative account password without proper authorization, potentially leading to complete system compromise. The vulnerability stems from the absence of proper anti-CSRF mechanisms in the password change process, making it susceptible to exploitation through malicious web pages or email attachments that automatically submit requests to the vulnerable CMS.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability exploits the lack of anti-CSRF tokens in the password change form submission process. When an administrator visits a malicious page while authenticated to the CMS, the attacker can craft a request that automatically submits a password change request to the vulnerable endpoint. This occurs because the CMS does not validate the origin of the request or require a unique token that ties the request to the user's current session. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous as it directly targets administrative privileges, allowing attackers to gain unauthorized control over the CMS administration interface. According to CWE-352, this represents a classic cross-site request forgery vulnerability where the application fails to verify that requests originate from the legitimate user.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple password compromise, as it provides attackers with persistent administrative access to the CMS system. Once an attacker successfully changes the administrator password, they can modify content, install malicious plugins, access sensitive data, and potentially use the compromised system as a foothold for further attacks within the network. The vulnerability affects any user who has administrative privileges and is authenticated to the CMS when visiting malicious content. This makes it particularly dangerous in environments where administrators frequently browse untrusted websites or receive email attachments from unknown sources. The attack vector is relatively simple to implement and can be automated, making it a preferred target for attackers seeking to establish persistent access to web applications.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on implementing proper CSRF protection mechanisms within the CMS. The most effective approach involves implementing anti-CSRF tokens that are generated for each user session and validated on every state-changing request, particularly those involving administrative functions. Organizations should also implement proper input validation and request origin checking to ensure that requests to sensitive endpoints come from legitimate sources within the application. The implementation should follow established security standards such as those outlined in the OWASP CSRF Prevention Cheat Sheet and should be integrated with the application's session management system. Additionally, regular security audits and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities in other parts of the application. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of keeping CMS systems updated with the latest security patches, as this issue was resolved in later versions of the software. Organizations should implement network monitoring and intrusion detection systems to identify suspicious activity patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts. The remediation process should include immediate patching of affected systems, review of user access controls, and implementation of security awareness training for administrators to prevent social engineering attacks that could exploit this vulnerability.