CVE-2020-18458 in DamiCMS
Summary
by MITRE • 08/12/2021
Cross Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability exists in DamiCMS v6.0.6 that can add an admin account via admin.php?s=/Admin/doadd.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/17/2021
The CVE-2020-18458 vulnerability represents a critical cross site request forgery flaw in DamiCMS version 6.0.6 that fundamentally undermines the application's administrative security controls. This vulnerability allows unauthorized attackers to exploit the administrative interface by crafting malicious requests that can create new administrator accounts without proper authentication. The specific endpoint affected is admin.php?s=/Admin/doadd which serves as the administrative account creation interface within the content management system. The vulnerability stems from the absence of proper CSRF protection mechanisms, specifically the lack of anti-CSRF tokens or validation checks that would normally verify the authenticity of administrative requests.
This CSRF vulnerability falls under the CWE-352 category, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery weaknesses in software applications. The flaw exists because the DamiCMS application fails to implement proper request validation techniques that would prevent attackers from tricking legitimate users into performing administrative actions without their knowledge or consent. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous as it directly targets the administrative account creation functionality, providing attackers with a direct path to gain elevated privileges within the system. Attackers could potentially leverage this vulnerability by enticing administrators to visit malicious websites or by embedding malicious requests within phishing emails that exploit the trust relationship between the user and the CMS application.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and far-reaching for organizations using DamiCMS v6.0.6. Once an attacker successfully exploits this CSRF vulnerability, they can create new administrative accounts with full privileges, effectively granting them complete control over the content management system. This compromise extends beyond simple unauthorized access to encompass full system takeover capabilities, allowing attackers to modify content, delete critical data, install malicious software, and potentially use the compromised system as a launch point for further attacks within the network. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it operates at the administrative level, meaning that any compromise results in complete system control rather than just data theft or limited access.
Organizations affected by CVE-2020-18458 should immediately implement mitigations that align with established cybersecurity best practices and standards. The primary remediation involves implementing robust anti-CSRF token mechanisms within the administrative interfaces of the application, ensuring that all administrative operations require valid, time-bound tokens that are unique to each user session. Additionally, organizations should enforce proper input validation and implement session management controls that verify the authenticity of administrative requests through multiple factors including user authentication, session tokens, and request origin verification. The implementation of these security controls should follow the principles outlined in the OWASP CSRF Prevention Cheat Sheet and align with NIST cybersecurity frameworks for application security. Regular security assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify and remediate similar vulnerabilities within the application stack, while also ensuring that all software components are kept up to date with the latest security patches. Organizations should also consider implementing network-level protections such as web application firewalls and monitoring systems that can detect and prevent unauthorized administrative account creation attempts.