CVE-2021-31677 in PESCMS
Summary
by MITRE • 07/06/2022
An issue was discovered in PESCMS-V2.3.3. There is a CSRF vulnerability that can modify admin and other members' passwords.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/19/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2021-31677 affects PESCMS version 2.3.3, representing a critical cross-site request forgery weakness that undermines the application's administrative security controls. This flaw resides within the password modification functionality of the content management system, where unauthorized actors can exploit the lack of proper anti-CSRF protections to manipulate user credentials without legitimate authorization. The vulnerability stems from insufficient validation mechanisms that fail to verify the authenticity of requests originating from legitimate administrative sessions.
Cross-site request forgery vulnerabilities typically occur when web applications fail to implement adequate token-based validation or referer header checking to ensure that requests are genuinely initiated by authenticated users. In this case, the PESCMS application does not properly validate the source of password change requests, allowing attackers to craft malicious payloads that can be executed through social engineering or by tricking administrators into visiting compromised web pages. The vulnerability specifically targets the administrative and member password modification endpoints, potentially enabling attackers to gain unauthorized access to user accounts and administrative privileges.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple credential compromise, as successful exploitation could lead to complete system takeover and unauthorized data access. Attackers could modify administrator passwords to gain persistent access to the management interface, potentially leading to data breaches, unauthorized content modification, or deployment of malicious code within the application environment. The vulnerability affects all users of the affected version, making it particularly dangerous as it requires minimal technical expertise to exploit. This weakness represents a significant deviation from security best practices and violates fundamental principles of web application security as outlined in the OWASP Top Ten and CWE-352.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should include immediate implementation of anti-CSRF tokens within all state-changing requests, particularly those involving user credential modifications. The application must enforce proper request validation mechanisms that verify the authenticity of administrative actions through secure token generation and verification processes. Organizations should also implement proper input sanitization and referer header validation to prevent unauthorized requests from being processed. Additionally, regular security audits and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities within the application's attack surface. The fix should align with industry standards such as CWE-352 and ATT&CK technique T1078 for credential access, ensuring that the application follows established security frameworks for protecting against session manipulation and unauthorized administrative access.