CVE-2019-19550 in Senior Rubiweb
Summary
by MITRE
Remote Authentication Bypass in Senior Rubiweb 6.2.34.28 and 6.2.34.37 allows admin access to sensitive information of affected users using vulnerable versions. The attacker only needs to provide the correct URL.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/01/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-19550 represents a critical remote authentication bypass flaw in Senior Rubiweb versions 6.2.34.28 and 6.2.34.37. This weakness fundamentally undermines the application's security model by allowing unauthorized attackers to gain administrative access to sensitive user information without proper authentication credentials. The vulnerability stems from inadequate session management and access control mechanisms within the web application framework, creating a pathway for malicious actors to bypass standard authentication procedures through simple URL manipulation.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves a flaw in the application's URL routing and authorization logic where specific endpoints do not properly validate user permissions before granting access to administrative functions. Attackers can exploit this by constructing or discovering specific URLs that directly access administrative interfaces or user data endpoints without requiring valid login credentials. This type of vulnerability falls under CWE-287 which specifically addresses improper authentication issues in software systems. The flaw demonstrates poor input validation and insufficient access control checks that should normally be enforced at multiple layers of the application architecture.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe as it enables attackers to access sensitive user information including personal data, account details, and potentially confidential business information stored within the Senior Rubiweb application. Administrative access through this bypass allows unauthorized users to perform actions such as viewing user profiles, modifying account settings, accessing restricted content, and potentially conducting further attacks within the compromised system. The vulnerability's exploitation requires minimal technical skill and can be accomplished through simple web browser navigation, making it particularly dangerous in environments where the application serves critical business functions or handles sensitive data.
Security professionals should implement immediate mitigations including patching the application to the latest secure version, implementing proper access control checks at all entry points, and configuring web application firewalls to monitor for suspicious URL patterns. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of principle of least privilege enforcement and proper session management as outlined in the mitre ATT&CK framework under the privilege escalation and credential access tactics. Organizations should also conduct comprehensive security assessments to identify similar authentication bypass vulnerabilities within their web applications and ensure that all endpoints properly validate user permissions before granting access to sensitive resources.