CVE-2021-37366 in CTparental
Summary
by MITRE • 08/10/2021
CTparental before 4.45.03 is vulnerable to cross-site request forgery (CSRF) in the CTparental admin panel. By combining CSRF with XSS, an attacker can trick the administrator into clicking a link that cancels the filtering for all standard users.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/15/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2021-37366 affects CTparental software versions prior to 4.45.03, specifically targeting the administrative panel component. This represents a critical security weakness that stems from inadequate protection mechanisms against cross-site request forgery attacks. The flaw exists within the web interface that administrators use to manage parental control settings, creating a pathway for malicious actors to manipulate the system's filtering behavior without proper authorization. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it operates within the administrative context where sensitive configuration changes can significantly impact user access and content filtering policies.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability allows attackers to craft malicious requests that, when executed by an authenticated administrator, can modify system parameters. The flaw occurs because the application fails to validate the origin of requests made to administrative endpoints, particularly those related to user filtering settings. When combined with cross-site scripting capabilities, the attack becomes even more dangerous as attackers can execute malicious scripts that automatically submit requests to the administrative interface. This combination creates a powerful attack vector where the attacker can manipulate the filtering behavior for all standard users within the system, effectively disabling content restrictions that parents or administrators have configured.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple privilege escalation to encompass complete compromise of the parental control system's integrity. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability can disable filtering for all users, potentially exposing children to inappropriate content or allowing unauthorized access to restricted websites. The implications are particularly severe in environments where CTparental is used for family safety, educational institutions, or corporate networks where content filtering policies are critical for maintaining security standards. The vulnerability essentially undermines the core purpose of the software, which is to provide controlled access to digital content based on user profiles and filtering policies.
The security implications of CVE-2021-37366 align with CWE-352, which specifically addresses cross-site request forgery vulnerabilities in web applications. This classification indicates that the flaw represents a fundamental weakness in the application's request validation mechanisms, where the system fails to properly authenticate and authorize requests originating from external sources. The attack pattern follows established methods described in the ATT&CK framework under the T1078 technique for valid accounts and T1566 for credential harvesting, as attackers can leverage authenticated sessions to perform unauthorized actions. The vulnerability demonstrates a critical gap in the software's defense-in-depth strategy, where the administrative interface lacks proper anti-CSRF tokens or referer validation mechanisms that would prevent such attacks.
Organizations using CTparental software should immediately implement mitigations including updating to version 4.45.03 or later, which addresses the CSRF vulnerability through proper request validation mechanisms. Additional defensive measures should include implementing web application firewalls that can detect and block suspicious request patterns, configuring proper referer header validation, and establishing network segmentation to limit access to administrative interfaces. The vulnerability also underscores the importance of regular security assessments and penetration testing to identify similar weaknesses in other administrative components. Security teams should also consider implementing multi-factor authentication for administrative accounts and monitoring for unusual administrative activities that might indicate exploitation attempts. The combination of these defensive measures provides comprehensive protection against both CSRF and XSS attacks that could lead to unauthorized privilege escalation and system compromise.