CVE-2020-22206 in EcShop
Summary
by MITRE • 06/17/2021
SQL Injection in ECShop 3.0 via the aid parameter to admin/affiliate_ck.php.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/21/2021
The vulnerability CVE-2020-22206 represents a critical sql injection flaw discovered in ECShop version 3.0, specifically within the administrative interface at admin/affiliate_ck.php. This vulnerability arises from improper input validation and sanitization of the aid parameter, which is used to handle affiliate commission calculations and tracking within the e-commerce platform. The flaw allows authenticated attackers with administrative privileges to manipulate database queries through malicious input, potentially leading to unauthorized data access, modification, or deletion. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-89 as SQL Injection, a well-known weakness that has been consistently ranked among the top security risks in the OWASP Top Ten project and the SANS Institute's Top 25 Most Dangerous Software Errors. The attack surface is particularly concerning as it targets the administrative backend, which typically possesses elevated privileges and access to sensitive customer and financial data within e-commerce systems. This vulnerability directly impacts the integrity and confidentiality of the affected system, as demonstrated by the ATT&CK framework's T1071.004 technique for application layer protocol manipulation, which encompasses SQL injection attacks targeting web applications. The flaw enables an attacker to execute arbitrary sql commands against the underlying database, potentially allowing for full system compromise through data exfiltration, privilege escalation, or even database corruption.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability requires an attacker to first gain administrative access to the ECShop system, as the injection point is located within the admin directory. Once authenticated, the attacker can manipulate the aid parameter in the admin/affiliate_ck.php script to inject malicious sql payloads. The vulnerability stems from the application's failure to properly escape or parameterize user input before incorporating it into sql queries. This allows attackers to bypass normal input validation mechanisms and inject additional sql commands that are then executed by the database engine. The impact extends beyond simple data retrieval, as successful exploitation can lead to complete database compromise, including the ability to create new administrative accounts, modify customer records, manipulate order data, and extract sensitive information such as credit card details, personal identification numbers, and confidential business data. The vulnerability's severity is amplified by the fact that it affects the core administrative functionality of the e-commerce platform, making it a prime target for attackers seeking to gain persistent access to sensitive business information and customer data.
Organizations utilizing ECShop 3.0 must implement immediate remediation measures to address this vulnerability, including applying the vendor-provided security patches or upgrading to patched versions of the software. The recommended mitigation strategy involves implementing proper input validation and parameterized queries throughout the application codebase, specifically targeting all database interactions within the admin directory. Security controls should include input sanitization at multiple layers, including web application firewall rules to detect and block suspicious sql injection patterns, and regular security audits of database access logs to identify potential exploitation attempts. Additionally, implementing principle of least privilege access controls for administrative accounts, along with multi-factor authentication, can significantly reduce the attack surface and limit the potential impact of successful exploitation attempts. Organizations should also consider implementing database activity monitoring solutions that can detect anomalous sql query patterns and alert security teams to potential injection attacks. The remediation process must include thorough testing of patched code to ensure that the fix does not introduce new functionality issues while maintaining the application's core business operations. Regular vulnerability assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar sql injection vulnerabilities in other components of the e-commerce platform, as this vulnerability represents a broader class of issues that can affect web applications processing user input directly into database queries.