CVE-2022-2765 in Company Website CMS
Summary
by MITRE • 08/11/2022
A vulnerability was found in SourceCodester Company Website CMS 1.0. It has been declared as critical. Affected by this vulnerability is an unknown functionality of the file /dashboard/settings. The manipulation leads to improper authentication. The attack can be launched remotely. The exploit has been disclosed to the public and may be used. The identifier VDB-206161 was assigned to this vulnerability.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/10/2022
This critical vulnerability in SourceCodester Company Website CMS 1.0 represents a severe authentication flaw that undermines the security posture of affected systems. The vulnerability resides within the /dashboard/settings component, which serves as a critical administrative interface for managing website configurations. The improper authentication mechanism allows attackers to bypass legitimate access controls and gain unauthorized administrative privileges. This flaw falls under the category of weak authentication as defined by CWE-287, where the system fails to properly verify the identity of users attempting to access privileged functions. The vulnerability's critical severity classification indicates that it presents a significant risk to system integrity and data confidentiality, particularly given that the attack vector is remote and exploitable without requiring physical access or prior authentication credentials.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through remote manipulation of the /dashboard/settings functionality, which typically should require valid administrative credentials to access. However, the flawed authentication implementation allows unauthorized actors to bypass these security controls entirely. This represents a direct violation of the principle of least privilege and proper access control enforcement as outlined in CWE-285. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability to perform administrative actions such as modifying website content, altering user permissions, accessing sensitive data, or even installing malicious code. The public disclosure of the exploit (VDB-206161) significantly increases the risk exposure as threat actors can readily implement the attack without requiring advanced technical skills or custom development efforts. The remote nature of the attack means that systems can be compromised from anywhere on the internet, making the vulnerability particularly dangerous for organizations that do not maintain proper network segmentation or monitoring controls.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple unauthorized access to encompass potential data breaches, service disruption, and reputational damage for affected organizations. When an attacker successfully exploits this authentication bypass, they can manipulate the entire website configuration, potentially leading to complete system compromise. This vulnerability directly maps to attack techniques described in the MITRE ATT&CK framework under T1078 for valid accounts and T1566 for social engineering, as the exploitation involves unauthorized access to administrative functions. Organizations running this CMS version face the risk of unauthorized content modification, data exfiltration, and potential use as a pivot point for attacking other systems within the network. The vulnerability's impact is amplified by the fact that it affects the core administrative dashboard, which typically contains sensitive configuration data and user management functions that are essential for maintaining system security and operational integrity.
Organizations should immediately implement mitigations to address this vulnerability through patching or applying temporary workarounds. The most effective solution involves upgrading to a patched version of the SourceCodester Company Website CMS that resolves the authentication flaw. When patches are not immediately available, temporary mitigations should include implementing network-level restrictions such as firewall rules that limit access to the vulnerable /dashboard/settings endpoint to trusted IP addresses only. Additional protective measures include implementing multi-factor authentication for administrative access, monitoring for unusual access patterns to administrative interfaces, and conducting comprehensive security audits of all administrative components. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper authentication implementation and access control mechanisms as outlined in security standards such as NIST SP 800-53 and ISO 27001. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls to detect and block exploitation attempts targeting this specific vulnerability. Regular vulnerability assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar authentication flaws in other systems and applications within the organization's attack surface.