CVE-2018-19291 in DiliCMS
Summary
by MITRE
An issue discovered in DiliCMS 2.4.0. There is a CSRF vulnerability that can delete a user or group via an admin/index.php/user/del/1 or admin/index.php/role/del/2 URI.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/06/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-19291 represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw within DiliCMS version 2.4.0 that exposes administrative functions to unauthorized manipulation. This weakness allows attackers to execute destructive actions against user accounts and role configurations through specifically crafted malicious requests that leverage the application's administrative endpoints. The vulnerability manifests through direct URI access patterns where administrative deletion operations can be triggered without proper authentication or authorization verification.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the absence of anti-CSRF tokens or proper session validation mechanisms within the administrative deletion endpoints. When an administrator navigates to the targeted URIs such as admin/index.php/user/del/1 or admin/index.php/role/del/2, the application processes these requests without verifying the legitimacy of the request source or confirming the administrator's intent through proper authentication challenges. This design flaw enables attackers to construct malicious web pages or exploit existing user sessions to perform unauthorized deletions of user accounts and role configurations within the CMS.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data loss to encompass complete administrative control compromise. An attacker who successfully exploits this CSRF vulnerability can systematically remove user accounts and role configurations, effectively disrupting the entire user management system and potentially gaining unauthorized access to sensitive administrative functions. The consequences include complete loss of user data, potential denial of service for legitimate users, and possible escalation to full system compromise if the application lacks proper access controls or audit logging mechanisms. This vulnerability directly violates security principles outlined in CWE-352, which specifically addresses cross-site request forgery vulnerabilities in web applications.
The exploitation of this vulnerability aligns with several tactics described in the MITRE ATT&CK framework, particularly those related to privilege escalation and persistence within web applications. Attackers can leverage this flaw to establish persistent access by removing legitimate user accounts and replacing them with attacker-controlled accounts, or to disrupt service availability by deleting critical role configurations. The vulnerability also enables attackers to bypass normal access controls that would typically require explicit authentication for administrative functions, making it particularly dangerous in environments where administrators frequently access the application through web browsers.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2018-19291 should focus on implementing robust anti-CSRF protection mechanisms throughout the application's administrative interfaces. This includes deploying unique, unpredictable tokens for each user session that must be validated before processing any administrative requests, implementing proper referer header checking, and ensuring that all administrative operations require explicit authentication confirmation. Organizations should also consider implementing additional security controls such as rate limiting for administrative functions, enhanced session management, and comprehensive audit logging of all administrative activities to detect unauthorized access attempts. The remediation process should involve immediate patching of the DiliCMS application to version 2.4.1 or later, which includes the necessary CSRF protection mechanisms. Additionally, regular security assessments should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities in other administrative functions, as this type of flaw often indicates broader security design issues within the application's architecture.