CVE-2022-24985 in JQueryForm.com
Summary
by MITRE • 02/17/2022
Forms generated by JQueryForm.com before 2022-02-05 allows a remote authenticated attacker to bypass authentication and access the administrative section of other forms hosted on the same web server. This is relevant only when an organization hosts more than one of these forms on their server.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/19/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2022-24985 affects forms generated by JQueryForm.com prior to the February 5, 2022 release, presenting a critical authentication bypass flaw that enables remote authenticated attackers to gain administrative access to other forms hosted on the same web server. This issue represents a classic case of insufficient access control and cross-form privilege escalation, where the security boundaries between multiple applications hosted on a single server are improperly enforced. The vulnerability specifically targets the administrative interfaces of forms that utilize the JQueryForm.com platform, creating a scenario where an attacker with access to one form can potentially compromise the administrative sections of all other forms within the same hosting environment.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability stems from improper session management and authentication state handling across multiple forms sharing the same server infrastructure. When an authenticated user accesses the administrative section of one form, the system fails to properly isolate the authentication context from other forms, allowing the attacker to manipulate session tokens or authentication parameters to gain unauthorized administrative privileges on different forms. This flaw aligns with CWE-285, which addresses improper authorization issues, and more specifically with CWE-306, which covers missing authentication checks. The vulnerability demonstrates a failure in implementing proper application-level security boundaries, where the web server hosting multiple forms does not enforce adequate separation between the administrative contexts of different applications, creating a privilege escalation vector that bypasses normal access controls.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant for organizations that host multiple forms on a single server infrastructure, as it essentially allows a single compromised form to become a gateway for attacking all other forms within the same hosting environment. Attackers can exploit this flaw to access sensitive administrative functions including form configuration changes, data manipulation, user management, and potentially access to confidential information stored within other forms. The remote nature of the attack means that an authenticated user with legitimate access to one form can leverage this vulnerability from any network location without requiring additional credentials or privileged access to the underlying server infrastructure. This creates a substantial risk for organizations with shared hosting environments or those that have not properly segmented their form applications, as the vulnerability can be exploited to gain comprehensive control over all hosted forms rather than just a single target.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including updating all JQueryForm.com generated forms to versions released after February 5, 2022, which contain the necessary authentication bypass fixes. The mitigation strategy should also include proper application isolation techniques such as implementing separate server instances or virtual environments for each form, enforcing strict session management policies, and conducting regular security assessments of multi-form hosting environments. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing network segmentation and access control measures to prevent lateral movement between applications, aligning with ATT&CK technique T1046 which addresses network service scanning and T1078 which covers valid accounts and legitimate credentials. Security monitoring should be enhanced to detect unusual administrative access patterns across multiple forms, and regular vulnerability assessments should be conducted to identify similar cross-application security flaws that might exist in other hosted applications or services.