CVE-2021-41260 in Galette
Summary
by MITRE • 12/16/2021
Galette is a membership management web application built for non profit organizations and released under GPLv3. Versions prior to 0.9.6 do not check for Cross Site Request Forgery attacks. All users are advised to upgrade to 0.9.6 as soon as possible. There are no known workarounds for this issue.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/22/2021
Galette represents a membership management web application specifically designed for non-profit organizations, operating under the GNU General Public License version 3. This application serves as a critical tool for managing organizational memberships, donations, and related administrative functions. The vulnerability identified in versions prior to 0.9.6 stems from a fundamental security oversight in the application's request handling mechanisms, creating a significant exposure that affects all user roles within the system. The absence of proper cross site request forgery protection mechanisms leaves the application susceptible to attacks that can be executed by malicious actors without requiring authentication or authorization from legitimate users.
The technical flaw manifests as a complete absence of csrf token validation within the application's web forms and request processing components. This vulnerability falls under the CWE-352 category, specifically addressing Cross-Site Request Forgery weaknesses in web applications. When users navigate to the Galette application, they become vulnerable to attacks where malicious actors can craft specially crafted requests that will be executed on behalf of authenticated users. The flaw exists because the application fails to implement the essential csrf protection pattern that requires verification of a unique, unpredictable token for each user session. Attackers can exploit this by embedding malicious links or forms in emails, websites, or other communication channels that, when clicked by authenticated users, will execute unauthorized actions within the Galette application without the user's knowledge or consent.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is substantial and potentially devastating for non-profit organizations relying on Galette for their membership management. An attacker could perform unauthorized actions such as adding new members, modifying existing user accounts, changing membership statuses, or even deleting critical organizational data. The attack vector requires no privileged access or authentication from the attacker, as the exploitation leverages the legitimate user's authenticated session. This creates a scenario where malicious actors can operate undetected while performing actions that could compromise organizational integrity, financial data, or member privacy. The vulnerability affects all users equally regardless of their permission levels, making it particularly dangerous in environments where administrative privileges are not strictly controlled. Organizations using older versions face the risk of complete compromise of their membership databases and potential financial losses through fraudulent transactions or unauthorized access to sensitive information.
The recommended mitigation strategy involves immediate upgrade to Galette version 0.9.6 or later, which implements proper csrf token validation mechanisms. This upgrade represents the only effective solution since no viable workarounds exist for this particular vulnerability. Organizations should conduct thorough testing of the upgraded version to ensure compatibility with existing workflows and data structures. Security teams should also implement monitoring for any suspicious activities that might indicate exploitation attempts during the transition period. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of implementing comprehensive security controls even in applications designed for non-profit organizations that may not traditionally face sophisticated cyber threats. Organizations should review their entire software supply chain for similar csrf vulnerabilities and establish regular update procedures to maintain security posture against evolving threats. This incident highlights the necessity of following security best practices such as those outlined in the OWASP Top Ten and the MITRE ATT&CK framework for web application security, particularly focusing on the prevention of csrf attacks through proper token implementation and session management.