CVE-2020-9271 in Hrm
Summary
by MITRE
ICE Hrm 26.2.0 is vulnerable to CSRF that leads to user creation via service.php.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/11/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2020-9271 affects ICE Hrm version 26.2.0 and represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw that enables unauthorized user creation through the service.php endpoint. This vulnerability falls under the CWE-352 category of Cross-Site Request Forgery, which occurs when a web application fails to verify that requests originate from legitimate sources. The flaw exists in the application's authentication and authorization mechanisms, specifically within the service.php file that handles user management operations. Attackers can exploit this vulnerability by crafting malicious web pages or emails that, when visited by authenticated users, automatically submit requests to the vulnerable application's service.php endpoint to create new user accounts without proper authorization.
The technical exploitation of this CSRF vulnerability requires an attacker to understand the application's request structure and parameters used for user creation within the service.php file. The vulnerability demonstrates a lack of proper request validation and token verification mechanisms that should be implemented to prevent unauthorized operations. When an authenticated user visits a malicious page containing embedded requests to the service.php endpoint, the browser automatically includes the user's session cookies, allowing the attacker to perform actions on behalf of the victim. This attack vector bypasses normal access controls and authentication checks that should prevent unauthorized user creation. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it allows attackers to establish persistent accounts within the system, potentially leading to further exploitation and privilege escalation.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple unauthorized user creation, as it provides attackers with a foothold within the application that can be leveraged for more sophisticated attacks. An attacker who successfully creates a user account can potentially escalate privileges, access sensitive data, or use the created account for further reconnaissance and exploitation. This vulnerability affects the integrity and availability of the application's user management system, as unauthorized users can be created without proper oversight or approval. The attack can be executed through various delivery mechanisms including phishing emails, compromised websites, or social engineering campaigns that trick users into visiting malicious content. The vulnerability also impacts the application's trust model, as it allows attackers to manipulate the user database and potentially gain access to restricted areas of the application.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2020-9271 should focus on implementing robust CSRF protection mechanisms such as the use of anti-forgery tokens that are generated for each user session and validated on every state-changing request. The service.php endpoint should require proper authentication checks and validate that requests originate from legitimate sources within the application. Organizations should implement the principle of least privilege by ensuring that only authorized administrators can create new user accounts. The application should also enforce proper input validation and sanitization to prevent malicious data from being processed through the user creation endpoint. Additionally, regular security testing including penetration testing and vulnerability scanning should be conducted to identify similar issues in other application components. The vulnerability highlights the importance of following secure coding practices as outlined in the OWASP Top Ten and NIST Cybersecurity Framework guidelines. Security patches should be applied immediately upon availability, and application developers should implement comprehensive CSRF protection measures in all state-changing operations to prevent similar vulnerabilities from being introduced in future versions.