CVE-2018-16339 in EmpireCMS
Summary
by MITRE
An issue was discovered in EmpireCMS 7.0. There is a CSRF vulnerability that can add administrators via upload/e/admin/user/AddUser.php?enews=AddUser.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/19/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-16339 represents a critical cross-site request forgery weakness within EmpireCMS version 7.0 that directly impacts the administrative user management functionality. This flaw resides in the upload/e/admin/user/AddUser.php endpoint where the application fails to properly validate or authenticate requests originating from unauthorized sources. The vulnerability specifically affects the AddUser function that handles administrator account creation, making it susceptible to exploitation by malicious actors who can manipulate the system to create new administrative accounts without proper authorization.
From a technical perspective this CSRF vulnerability stems from the absence of proper anti-CSRF tokens or validation mechanisms within the user addition process. When an administrator visits a malicious website or clicks on a crafted link, the vulnerability allows an attacker to automatically submit requests to the EmpireCMS administration interface to create new user accounts. The system does not verify the origin of the request or require confirmation tokens that would normally prevent unauthorized operations from being executed on behalf of authenticated users. This design flaw aligns with CWE-352 which specifically addresses cross-site request forgery vulnerabilities and their potential for unauthorized privilege escalation.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe as it provides attackers with a direct path to gain administrative control over the CMS installation. Once an attacker successfully exploits this vulnerability, they can create new administrator accounts with full privileges, effectively compromising the entire system. This allows for complete control over website content, user management, database access, and potentially the underlying server infrastructure. The attack vector is particularly dangerous because it can be executed through simple web-based interactions without requiring any specialized tools or deep technical knowledge, making it accessible to a wide range of threat actors.
The implications extend beyond immediate system compromise as this vulnerability can serve as a persistent foothold for attackers to maintain access, conduct further reconnaissance, and potentially launch additional attacks against the organization. The lack of proper authentication validation in the user management interface creates a fundamental security gap that violates core principles of secure web application development. Organizations using EmpireCMS 7.0 should immediately implement mitigations including the deployment of anti-CSRF tokens, implementing proper request origin validation, and ensuring that administrative functions require additional authentication layers. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of validating all user inputs and ensuring that administrative operations cannot be triggered through simple automated requests without proper authorization mechanisms in place. This flaw also highlights the necessity of following established security frameworks such as OWASP Top Ten and implementing proper session management and request validation controls to prevent similar vulnerabilities from being exploited in other applications.