CVE-2022-4564 in Materia
Summary
by MITRE • 12/16/2022
A vulnerability classified as problematic has been found in University of Central Florida Materia up to 9.0.0. This affects the function before of the file fuel/app/classes/controller/api.php of the component API Controller. The manipulation leads to cross-site request forgery. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. Upgrading to version 9.0.1-alpha1 is able to address this issue. The name of the patch is af259115d2e8f17068e61902151ee8a9dbac397b. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component. The identifier VDB-215973 was assigned to this vulnerability.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/13/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2022-4564 represents a cross-site request forgery weakness in the University of Central Florida Materia learning management system. This flaw exists within the API Controller component, specifically in the before function of the fuel/app/classes/controller/api.php file. The issue has been classified as problematic due to its potential for remote exploitation, making it particularly concerning for organizations relying on this platform for educational content management and student data handling. The vulnerability allows attackers to execute unauthorized actions on behalf of authenticated users, potentially compromising the integrity and confidentiality of the system.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from insufficient validation of request origins within the API controller's before function. When a user accesses the application's API endpoints, the system fails to properly verify that requests originate from legitimate sources within the same origin domain. This oversight enables malicious actors to craft specially crafted requests that, when executed by authenticated users, perform unintended operations. The vulnerability's remote exploitability means that attackers do not require physical access to the system or local network privileges to carry out attacks, making it particularly dangerous in publicly accessible environments.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data theft or modification. An attacker could potentially manipulate course content, alter student grades, access restricted administrative functions, or even compromise user credentials through related attacks. The affected Materia version up to 9.0.0 represents a significant risk to educational institutions that rely on this platform for their digital learning infrastructure. Given that the platform handles sensitive academic data and user information, the potential for data breaches and unauthorized access to educational resources makes this vulnerability particularly critical. The attack vector through the API controller means that even seemingly benign interactions with the platform could be exploited for malicious purposes.
The recommended remediation involves upgrading to version 9.0.1-alpha1, which includes the patch identified by the commit hash af259115d2e8f17068e61902151ee8a9dbac397b. This upgrade addresses the core CSRF validation issue by implementing proper origin verification mechanisms and request authenticity checks. Organizations should also consider implementing additional security measures such as implementing Content Security Policy headers, utilizing anti-CSRF tokens in all API requests, and conducting thorough security testing of their application's API endpoints. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery weaknesses, and represents a clear violation of the principle of least privilege and proper access control mechanisms that should be implemented in web applications. Security teams should also review their incident response procedures to ensure they can quickly detect and respond to potential exploitation attempts of this type of vulnerability.