CVE-2024-28678 in DedeCMS
Summary
by MITRE • 03/13/2024
DedeCMS v5.7 was discovered to contain a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability via the component /dede/article_description_main.php
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/15/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-28678 affects DedeCMS version 5.7 and represents a critical Cross-Site Request Forgery flaw located within the /dede/article_description_main.php component. This vulnerability allows attackers to perform unauthorized actions on behalf of authenticated users without their knowledge or consent, exploiting the lack of proper anti-CSRF protections in the content management system's administrative interface. The flaw specifically targets the article description management functionality, which is a core component of the CMS's content editing capabilities.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the absence of anti-CSRF tokens or similar validation mechanisms in the affected PHP script. When administrators navigate to the article description management page and perform actions such as editing or saving article metadata, the application fails to validate that requests originate from legitimate user sessions. This creates an exploitable condition where malicious actors can craft specially crafted requests that, when executed by authenticated users, perform unintended operations within the CMS. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which defines Cross-Site Request Forgery as a weakness where applications fail to validate the origin of requests, and it maps to ATT&CK technique T1566.001 for initial access through spearphishing attachments or links that exploit this vulnerability.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant for organizations utilizing DedeCMS v5.7, as it could enable attackers to execute arbitrary administrative actions without proper authorization. Potential attack scenarios include unauthorized modification of article content, creation of malicious articles, or even complete compromise of the content management system if combined with other vulnerabilities. The attack surface is particularly concerning because it targets administrative functionality that is frequently accessed by legitimate users, making successful exploitation more likely. An attacker could leverage this vulnerability to inject malicious content, alter existing articles, or potentially escalate privileges within the CMS environment.
Organizations should immediately implement mitigations including the deployment of anti-CSRF tokens in all administrative forms and endpoints, implementing proper request validation mechanisms, and ensuring that all user sessions contain unique identifiers that are validated on each request. Network segmentation and access controls should be enforced to limit administrative access to only necessary personnel and systems. The affected DedeCMS version should be updated to the latest available release that contains patches for this vulnerability, and organizations should conduct comprehensive security assessments of their CMS installations to identify any additional CSRF vulnerabilities in related components. Regular security monitoring and intrusion detection systems should be configured to detect suspicious administrative activities that may indicate exploitation attempts. Additionally, security awareness training for administrators should emphasize the importance of verifying all administrative actions and recognizing potential CSRF attack vectors.