CVE-2018-15848 in portfolioCMS
Summary
by MITRE
An issue was discovered in portfolioCMS 1.0.5. There is CSRF to create new pages via admin/portfolio.php?newpage=true.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/18/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-15848 represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw within portfolioCMS version 1.0.5. This security weakness allows authenticated attackers with administrative privileges to manipulate the content management system through maliciously crafted requests that appear legitimate to the web application. The vulnerability specifically targets the administrative interface at admin/portfolio.php where the newpage=true parameter enables page creation functionality. The flaw exists because the application fails to implement proper anti-CSRF token validation mechanisms when processing requests to create new pages within the administrative context.
This vulnerability falls under CWE-352, which categorizes cross-site request forgery as a significant web application security weakness. The technical implementation flaw occurs when the application does not validate the authenticity of requests originating from the administrative interface. An attacker can exploit this by tricking an authenticated administrator into visiting a malicious website or clicking on a crafted link that automatically submits a request to the vulnerable portfolioCMS instance. The attack requires minimal privileges since the target is an administrative endpoint, making it particularly dangerous as it can be leveraged to create unauthorized content, modify existing pages, or potentially establish persistent backdoors within the website's content structure.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple content manipulation as it provides attackers with the ability to compromise the entire website's integrity and potentially establish a foothold for further attacks. An attacker could create malicious pages containing phishing content, malware distribution points, or content that could be used to harvest user credentials. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it operates at the administrative level, meaning that successful exploitation would allow full control over the website's content management capabilities. This could result in complete website compromise, data exfiltration, or serving as a launching point for additional attacks against the underlying infrastructure. The attack vector is particularly dangerous because it can be executed through social engineering techniques that require no special technical knowledge from the attacker beyond crafting a malicious webpage.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on implementing robust anti-CSRF protection mechanisms within the portfolioCMS application. The most effective approach involves implementing unique, unpredictable tokens for each administrative request that must be validated server-side before processing any page creation operations. Organizations should immediately update to the latest version of portfolioCMS where this vulnerability has been patched, as version 1.0.5 is known to contain this flaw. Additionally, implementing proper input validation, session management, and request origin verification can provide defense in depth. Security controls should include monitoring for unauthorized administrative activities and implementing web application firewalls that can detect and block suspicious administrative requests. The vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059 which involves executing commands through web application interfaces, and T1078 which covers legitimate credentials use for persistence. Organizations should also consider implementing multi-factor authentication for administrative accounts to add additional security layers beyond the basic credential protection that this vulnerability exploits.