CVE-2020-21139 in EC Cloud E-Commerce System
Summary
by MITRE • 11/05/2021
EC Cloud E-Commerce System v1.3 was discovered to contain a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) which allows attackers to arbitrarily add admin accounts via /admin.html?do=user&act=add.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/09/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2020-21139 affects the EC Cloud E-Commerce System version 1.3 and represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw that enables unauthorized attackers to escalate privileges by creating administrative user accounts. This vulnerability exists within the system's administrative interface at the specific endpoint /admin.html?do=user&act=add, which lacks proper anti-CSRF protection mechanisms. The flaw allows malicious actors to craft specially crafted requests that, when executed by authenticated administrators, will result in the creation of new administrative accounts without proper authorization or validation.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the absence of anti-CSRF tokens or similar protective measures within the affected administrative form submission process. When an administrator visits a malicious website or clicks on a crafted link containing the malicious payload, the browser automatically submits the request to the vulnerable endpoint without requiring user interaction or validation. This occurs because the application fails to implement proper state validation mechanisms that would verify the authenticity of the request origin and ensure that the request was initiated by the legitimate user rather than an attacker. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery weaknesses in web applications, and represents a classic example of how insufficient input validation and lack of anti-CSRF protection can lead to privilege escalation attacks.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe as it provides attackers with a direct path to administrative control over the affected e-commerce system. Once an attacker successfully creates a new administrative account, they gain complete access to the system's administrative functions, including but not limited to user management, product catalog modifications, financial transaction oversight, and system configuration changes. This privilege escalation capability allows attackers to manipulate the entire e-commerce platform, potentially leading to data breaches, financial fraud, service disruption, and unauthorized modification of customer information. The vulnerability particularly affects businesses relying on EC Cloud E-Commerce System v1.3, as it undermines the fundamental security assumptions of the administrative interface and creates a persistent backdoor for attackers.
Mitigation strategies for this CSRF vulnerability must focus on implementing robust anti-CSRF protection mechanisms throughout the application's administrative interface. The most effective approach involves implementing anti-CSRF tokens that are generated per session and validated on each administrative request, ensuring that requests originate from legitimate user interactions within the application's interface. Additionally, implementing proper origin validation checks, using the SameSite cookie attributes, and ensuring that administrative actions require explicit user confirmation through multi-factor authentication or additional verification steps can significantly reduce the attack surface. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls that can detect and block suspicious request patterns and regularly update their systems to address known vulnerabilities. This vulnerability demonstrates the importance of following secure coding practices and adhering to security standards such as those defined in the OWASP Top Ten, which emphasizes the critical need for proper input validation and state management in web applications to prevent CSRF attacks.