CVE-2018-25387 in HaPe PKH
Summary
by MITRE • 05/29/2026
HaPe PKH 1.1 contains a cross-site request forgery vulnerability that allows attackers to change administrator passwords by submitting forged requests to the user update endpoint. Attackers can craft malicious forms targeting the aksi_user.php script with parameters like id_user, password, and level to modify admin credentials without authentication.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/30/2026
This cross-site request forgery vulnerability in HaPe PKH 1.1 represents a critical security flaw that undermines the authentication and authorization mechanisms of the web application. The vulnerability exists within the user update endpoint functionality, specifically targeting the aksi_user.php script that processes user account modifications. Attackers can exploit this weakness by crafting malicious HTML forms that automatically submit requests to the vulnerable endpoint, effectively bypassing the normal authentication requirements that should protect administrator accounts. The flaw allows unauthorized individuals to manipulate user credentials through simple parameter injection attacks that include id_user, password, and level fields, which are directly processed by the backend script without proper validation or authentication checks.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from the absence of proper anti-CSRF token validation within the application's user management interface. According to CWE-352, this represents a classic cross-site request forgery vulnerability where the web application fails to verify the authenticity of requests originating from legitimate users. The attack vector operates through malicious web pages or emails that contain hidden forms or javascript code designed to submit forged requests to the target application's user update endpoint. When an authenticated administrator visits a malicious page containing such crafted requests, the browser automatically submits the forged requests to the vulnerable endpoint, resulting in unauthorized password changes and privilege modifications.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple credential theft, as it provides attackers with direct administrative control over the application's user management system. Successful exploitation allows attackers to modify administrator passwords, change user permissions, and potentially escalate their privileges within the application's access control framework. This vulnerability directly violates the principle of least privilege and compromises the integrity of the authentication system. According to the MITRE ATT&CK framework, this vulnerability maps to technique T1548.001 (Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism) and T1190 (Exploit Public-Facing Application) as it enables attackers to bypass authentication mechanisms and exploit application weaknesses to gain elevated privileges.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate implementation of robust anti-CSRF protection mechanisms throughout the application's user management interfaces. The most effective approach involves implementing unique, unpredictable tokens for each user session that must be validated before any user modification requests are processed. Additionally, the application should enforce strict input validation and authentication checks on all parameters received by the aksi_user.php endpoint, ensuring that only authorized users with proper session tokens can modify user accounts. The implementation of proper referer header validation and Content Security Policy headers can further strengthen defenses against cross-site request forgery attacks. Organizations should also consider implementing rate limiting and monitoring mechanisms to detect suspicious user account modification patterns and establish proper access control logging to track all administrative activities within the system.