CVE-2020-16610 in Codeigniter CMS
Summary
by MITRE
Hoosk Codeigniter CMS before 1.7.2 is affected by a Cross Site Request Forgery (CSRF). When an attacker induces authenticated admin user to a malicious web page, any accounts can be deleted without admin user's intention.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/11/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2020-16610 represents a critical cross site request forgery flaw within the Hoosk Codeigniter CMS version 1.7.1 and earlier. This vulnerability stems from the absence of proper CSRF protection mechanisms in the administrative interfaces, creating a dangerous attack vector that allows malicious actors to manipulate authenticated sessions. The flaw specifically affects the account deletion functionality, where an attacker can craft malicious web pages that, when visited by an authenticated administrator, will execute unauthorized account deletion commands without the administrator's knowledge or consent.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves the exploitation of the CMS's session management and request validation processes. When an authenticated administrator navigates to a malicious webpage controlled by an attacker, the malicious site can contain hidden forms or javascript code that automatically submits requests to the vulnerable CMS administration endpoints. This occurs because the CMS fails to implement proper CSRF tokens or referer validation checks that would normally prevent unauthorized requests from being processed. The vulnerability directly maps to CWE-352, which categorizes cross site request forgery as a weakness where a web application fails to validate that requests originate from the intended user.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and multifaceted. An attacker with minimal technical knowledge can potentially compromise entire user bases by deleting accounts, effectively causing data loss and service disruption. The attack requires only social engineering to convince an administrator to visit a malicious page, making it particularly dangerous in environments where administrators frequently browse untrusted websites. The vulnerability also impacts the integrity and availability of the system, as unauthorized account deletions can lead to permanent data loss and service interruptions. From an attacker perspective, this vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566 which describes social engineering tactics used to gain initial access or execute malicious commands through user interaction.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability involve immediate patching of the CMS to version 1.7.2 or later, which contains the necessary CSRF protection mechanisms. Organizations should implement comprehensive CSRF token validation throughout all administrative interfaces, ensuring that every state-changing request requires proper authentication tokens. Additionally, administrators should be educated about the risks of visiting untrusted websites and the importance of maintaining vigilance when navigating to potentially malicious sites. Network-level protections such as web application firewalls can provide additional defense in depth, though the primary mitigation remains the software patch. Regular security assessments and code reviews should be implemented to identify similar vulnerabilities in other components of the CMS or related applications. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of implementing proper session management and request validation mechanisms, which are fundamental requirements for maintaining web application security and protecting against common attack patterns.