CVE-2021-43156 in Online Book Store
Summary
by MITRE • 12/22/2021
In ProjectWorlds Online Book Store PHP 1.0 a CSRF vulnerability in admin_delete.php allows a remote attacker to delete any book.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/25/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2021-43156 represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw within the ProjectWorlds Online Book Store PHP 1.0 web application. This vulnerability exists in the admin_delete.php component which handles administrative book deletion operations. The flaw stems from the absence of proper anti-CSRF mechanisms, specifically the lack of CSRF tokens or other validation methods to verify that requests originate from legitimate administrative users. Attackers can exploit this weakness by crafting malicious web pages or emails that automatically submit deletion requests to the vulnerable application, thereby enabling unauthorized book removal from the database without proper authentication or authorization.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability demonstrates a classic CSRF attack vector where the application fails to validate the origin of deletion requests. When an administrator performs a book deletion operation, the application should verify that the request comes from a legitimate administrative session rather than from an external malicious site. Without CSRF protection mechanisms such as token validation, session consistency checks, or referer header validation, the application remains vulnerable to automated attacks. This flaw directly violates security best practices and represents a failure to implement proper input validation and request origin verification. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery issues in software applications.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data loss, as it compromises the integrity and availability of the bookstore's catalog management system. An attacker could systematically delete books from the inventory, potentially causing revenue loss, disrupting customer orders, and damaging the application's reputation. The vulnerability also creates opportunities for further exploitation, as deleting books might be a precursor to more sophisticated attacks such as data manipulation or service disruption. The ease of exploitation makes this vulnerability particularly dangerous, as attackers can leverage simple HTML forms or JavaScript to automate deletion attacks against the application's administrative functions. This weakness could also enable attackers to gain insights into the application's structure and potentially identify other related vulnerabilities through cascading effects.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2021-43156 should prioritize immediate implementation of proper CSRF protection mechanisms. The most effective approach involves implementing unique, unpredictable CSRF tokens that are generated for each administrative session and validated on every deletion request. These tokens should be embedded in all administrative forms and verified server-side before processing any deletion operations. Additionally, implementing proper referer header validation and using SameSite cookie attributes can provide additional layers of protection against CSRF attacks. Organizations should also consider implementing rate limiting and monitoring for deletion operations to detect and prevent automated attack patterns. Regular security audits and input validation reviews should be conducted to ensure that all administrative functions properly implement CSRF protection measures. The remediation process should follow established security frameworks such as those recommended by the OWASP CSRF Prevention Cheat Sheet, which provides comprehensive guidance for implementing robust CSRF protection mechanisms in web applications.