CVE-2018-5976 in RSVP Invitation Online
Summary
by MITRE
Cross Site Request Forgery (CSRF) exists in RSVP Invitation Online 1.0 via function/account.php, as demonstrated by modifying the admin password.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/03/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-5976 represents a critical cross site request forgery flaw in the RSVP Invitation Online 1.0 web application. This vulnerability resides within the function/account.php file and allows attackers to manipulate administrative functions without proper authorization. The specific exploit demonstrated involves unauthorized modification of administrator passwords, which fundamentally compromises the application's security posture and access controls.
This CSRF vulnerability stems from the application's failure to implement proper anti-CSRF mechanisms in its account management functions. The flaw enables attackers to craft malicious requests that appear to originate from authenticated users, specifically targeting administrative accounts. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it operates at the core of user authentication and account management functionality, making it a prime target for privilege escalation attacks. According to CWE-352, this represents a classic cross site request forgery vulnerability where the application fails to validate the origin of requests, allowing malicious actors to perform actions on behalf of legitimate users.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple password modification, as it provides attackers with potential access to administrative controls and sensitive data within the RSVP system. An attacker could leverage this vulnerability to gain full administrative privileges, modify user accounts, access confidential information, or potentially disrupt the entire application service. The vulnerability's exploitation requires minimal technical expertise, making it particularly dangerous in environments where proper security controls are not in place. This weakness aligns with ATT&CK technique T1078 which describes legitimate credentials usage and T1548.001 which covers abuse of cloud compute infrastructure.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should include implementing robust anti-CSRF tokens within all state-changing requests, particularly those involving account modifications. The application must validate request origins and implement proper session management controls to ensure that all administrative functions require explicit authorization. Security headers such as Content Security Policy should be configured to prevent unauthorized script execution. Additionally, the application should enforce multi-factor authentication for administrative accounts and implement comprehensive logging of administrative activities to detect unauthorized access attempts. Regular security assessments and code reviews should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities in other application components, as CSRF flaws often exist in multiple functions within web applications. The implementation of proper input validation and output encoding further strengthens the application's resistance to various cross site scripting and injection attacks that could compound the CSRF vulnerability.