CVE-2020-18151 in ThinkCMF
Summary
by MITRE • 07/15/2021
Cross Site Request Forgerly (CSRF) vulnerability in ThinkCMF v5.1.0, which can add an admin account.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/18/2021
The CVE-2020-18151 vulnerability represents a critical cross site request forgery flaw discovered in ThinkCMF version 5.1.0, a popular content management framework built on php. This vulnerability resides within the administrative account creation functionality of the CMS, creating a significant security risk for organizations utilizing this platform. The flaw allows authenticated attackers to manipulate the system's administrative functions through crafted requests that appear legitimate to the web application. The vulnerability stems from insufficient validation of request origins and lack of proper anti-CSRF token implementation within the user management endpoints. Attackers can exploit this weakness by tricking administrators into executing malicious requests through social engineering techniques or by leveraging existing session tokens from authenticated users. The impact extends beyond simple privilege escalation as the ability to create administrative accounts provides attackers with persistent access to the system's core functionalities. This vulnerability directly maps to CWE-352, which defines Cross-Site Request Forgery as a weakness where a web application fails to validate that requests originate from legitimate sources. The flaw aligns with ATT&CK technique T1078.004 which covers valid accounts and T1548.002 which involves privilege escalation through abuse of administrative credentials. The vulnerability affects the authentication and authorization mechanisms of the CMS, undermining the security model that should protect administrative functions from unauthorized access. Organizations using ThinkCMF v5.1.0 are particularly at risk as this vulnerability can be exploited without requiring elevated privileges or complex attack vectors. The attack surface is broad since it leverages the existing trust relationship between the web application and its authenticated users, making detection and prevention challenging. The vulnerability demonstrates a fundamental flaw in the framework's security implementation where session management and request validation are insufficient to prevent malicious operations. Security researchers identified that the administrative account creation endpoint lacked proper CSRF protection mechanisms, allowing attackers to construct malicious requests that would be executed with the privileges of the authenticated user. The exploitation process typically involves crafting a malicious webpage or email that, when visited by an administrator, automatically submits a request to create a new administrative user. This creates a persistent backdoor within the system that attackers can use for further compromise. The vulnerability's severity is amplified by the fact that it operates at the administrative level, providing attackers with complete control over the CMS environment. The flaw represents a classic example of how inadequate input validation and missing security controls can lead to critical privilege escalation vulnerabilities. Organizations should immediately implement mitigations including proper CSRF token validation, origin checking, and session management controls. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of regular security audits and timely patch management for content management systems. Without proper remediation, this vulnerability can lead to complete system compromise and unauthorized access to sensitive data stored within the CMS. The flaw serves as a reminder of the critical importance of implementing robust anti-CSRF protections in web applications, particularly those handling administrative functions and sensitive user data. Security teams should conduct comprehensive assessments of their ThinkCMF installations to identify and remediate similar vulnerabilities across their infrastructure. The vulnerability's exploitation demonstrates the need for defense in depth strategies that include multiple layers of protection beyond traditional authentication mechanisms. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls and monitoring for suspicious administrative activities that could indicate exploitation attempts.