CVE-2018-16338 in auraCMS
Summary
by MITRE
An issue was discovered in AuraCMS 2.3. There is a CSRF vulnerability that can change the administrator's password via admin.php?mod=users and subsequently add a page or menu, or submit a topic.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/19/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-16338 represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw within AuraCMS version 2.3 that directly compromises administrative account security. This issue stems from the absence of proper anti-CSRF mechanisms in the user management interface, specifically at the admin.php?mod=users endpoint where administrative privileges are handled. The flaw allows malicious actors to execute unauthorized administrative actions without legitimate user consent, fundamentally undermining the application's access control mechanisms.
The technical nature of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which categorizes cross-site request forgery as a weakness where a web application fails to validate that requests originate from the authenticated user. In AuraCMS, the lack of anti-CSRF tokens or other validation mechanisms means that an attacker can craft malicious requests that, when executed by an authenticated administrator, will modify critical system parameters. The vulnerability specifically targets the user management module, enabling attackers to change administrator passwords through the admin.php?mod=users interface, which represents a direct path to system compromise.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple credential theft, as it provides attackers with elevated privileges that enable them to manipulate the entire content management system. Once an attacker successfully changes an administrator password, they can leverage their newfound access to add malicious pages, modify existing content, submit unauthorized topics, or potentially establish persistent backdoors within the system. This represents a complete compromise of the application's integrity and confidentiality, allowing attackers to fundamentally alter the website's content and structure without detection.
The attack vector for this vulnerability typically involves tricking an authenticated administrator into visiting a malicious website or clicking on a crafted link that automatically submits requests to the vulnerable AuraCMS installation. This attack pattern aligns with the techniques documented in the MITRE ATT&CK framework under the T1078 credential access tactic, where adversaries leverage legitimate credentials to gain access to systems. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it requires no authentication from the attacker's perspective, relying instead on social engineering to convince administrators to execute malicious requests.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2018-16338 should prioritize immediate implementation of anti-CSRF protection mechanisms, including the deployment of unique, unpredictable tokens for each user session that validate the authenticity of requests submitted to the admin.php?mod=users endpoint. Organizations should also implement proper input validation and request origin checking to ensure that administrative actions only originate from legitimate sources within the application. Additionally, regular security updates and patches should be applied to ensure that all known vulnerabilities are addressed. The remediation process must include comprehensive testing to verify that anti-CSRF protections are functioning correctly and that administrative actions require explicit user confirmation before execution.