CVE-2021-26800 in User Management System
Summary
by MITRE • 12/16/2021
Cross Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Change-password.php in phpgurukul user management system in php using stored procedure V1.0, allows attackers to change the password to an arbitrary account.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/22/2021
The CVE-2021-26800 vulnerability represents a critical cross site request forgery flaw within the phpGurukul user management system version 1.0 that utilizes stored procedures for database operations. This vulnerability specifically targets the change-password.php component, which serves as the primary interface for users to modify their account credentials. The flaw stems from insufficient validation mechanisms that fail to properly authenticate and authorize password modification requests, creating a pathway for malicious actors to exploit the system's trust model. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery conditions where applications fail to validate the origin of requests. This weakness allows attackers to manipulate the authentication flow by crafting malicious requests that appear to originate from legitimate users within the system.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability occurs through the absence of proper anti-CSRF tokens or session validation within the change-password.php script. When a user initiates a password change request, the system should verify that the request originates from the authenticated user's session and contains valid authorization tokens. However, the vulnerable implementation fails to enforce these security checks, allowing unauthorized parties to construct forged requests that can modify any user account within the system. Attackers can exploit this by tricking users into clicking malicious links or embedding exploit code within compromised websites that automatically submit password change requests to the vulnerable system. The stored procedure architecture does not provide additional protection against this specific attack vector since the vulnerability lies in the application logic rather than the database layer itself.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple credential theft, as it provides attackers with complete control over arbitrary user accounts within the system. Successful exploitation enables attackers to assume the identity of any user, potentially gaining access to sensitive data, modifying system configurations, or using compromised accounts for further attacks within the network. The vulnerability affects the core authentication mechanism of the user management system, undermining the fundamental security assumptions that users rely upon when managing their account credentials. This weakness particularly impacts organizations that depend on the phpGurukul system for user management, as it creates a persistent threat vector that can be exploited repeatedly without requiring additional system compromises. The vulnerability also violates several security principles outlined in the OWASP Top Ten, specifically addressing authentication failures and the lack of proper request validation.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2021-26800 must address the fundamental lack of CSRF protection within the change-password.php component. Organizations should implement robust anti-CSRF token mechanisms that generate unique, time-limited tokens for each user session and validate these tokens upon password change requests. The system should enforce strict session validation that ties password modification requests to the authenticated user's session context rather than relying solely on user-provided parameters. Security patches should include the implementation of proper request origin validation, ensuring that all password change operations are explicitly authorized and authenticated before execution. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing rate limiting mechanisms to prevent automated exploitation attempts and enhance logging capabilities to detect suspicious password change activities. The remediation process should also include comprehensive security testing to verify that all user management functions properly validate request authenticity and that no similar vulnerabilities exist within the system's authentication framework. This vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of implementing proper input validation and authentication controls, as outlined in the MITRE ATT&CK framework under the credential access and privilege escalation categories, where such flaws can be leveraged to achieve unauthorized system access and maintain persistent control over compromised accounts.