CVE-2022-3017 in froxlor
Summary
by MITRE • 08/28/2022
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) in GitHub repository froxlor/froxlor prior to 0.10.38.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/02/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2022-3017 represents a critical cross-site request forgery weakness discovered in the froxlor web hosting control panel software. This issue affects versions prior to 0.10.38 and resides within the GitHub repository management system. The flaw allows malicious actors to execute unauthorized actions on behalf of authenticated users without their knowledge or consent, potentially compromising the integrity and security of web hosting environments. Cross-site request forgery attacks exploit the trust that a web application places in a user's browser, making this vulnerability particularly dangerous in administrative contexts where sensitive operations are performed.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the absence of proper validation mechanisms for state-changing requests within the froxlor control panel. When users navigate to malicious websites or click on crafted links, the application fails to verify that requests originate from legitimate sources within the same origin. This weakness enables attackers to craft deceptive web pages that automatically submit requests to the froxlor application, potentially modifying user configurations, creating new accounts, or altering system settings. The vulnerability specifically impacts the authentication and authorization mechanisms that should prevent unauthorized modifications to the hosting environment.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data manipulation to encompass complete compromise of hosting control panels. Attackers could leverage this weakness to gain persistent access to customer accounts, modify DNS records, create malicious email accounts, or even escalate privileges within the hosting infrastructure. Given that froxlor serves as a web hosting control panel, the potential damage includes unauthorized access to multiple customer websites and databases, making this a particularly severe concern for hosting providers who manage numerous client accounts. The vulnerability also enables attackers to perform administrative tasks that could disrupt services or steal sensitive information from the hosting environment.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2022-3017 should prioritize immediate deployment of froxlor version 0.10.38 or later, which includes proper CSRF token implementation and validation mechanisms. Organizations should also implement additional security layers including web application firewalls, regular security audits, and comprehensive monitoring of administrative activities. The fix typically involves implementing anti-CSRF tokens that are generated per session and validated on each state-changing request, ensuring that requests originate from legitimate user interactions. Security practitioners should also consider implementing content security policies and ensuring that all administrative interfaces require proper authentication and authorization checks before processing any modifications to system configurations. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses cross-site request forgery weaknesses in web applications, and represents a significant risk to the ATT&CK framework's privilege escalation and persistence tactics.