CVE-2024-41246 in Responsive School Management System
Summary
by MITRE • 08/07/2024
An Incorrect Access Control vulnerability was found in /smsa/admin_dashboard.php in Kashipara Responsive School Management System v3.2.0, which allows remote unauthenticated attackers to view administrator dashboard.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/09/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-41246 represents a critical access control flaw within the Kashipara Responsive School Management System version 3.2.0. This issue resides in the /smsa/admin_dashboard.php component and fundamentally undermines the system's security posture by permitting unauthorized remote access to administrative functions. The flaw demonstrates a classic failure in authentication and authorization mechanisms, where the application fails to properly verify user credentials or roles before granting access to sensitive administrative interfaces. This vulnerability directly violates the principle of least privilege and demonstrates poor implementation of access control policies that should prevent unauthorized users from accessing privileged system components.
The technical nature of this vulnerability can be categorized under CWE-285, which specifically addresses improper authorization issues within software systems. The flaw manifests as a complete absence of authentication checks within the admin_dashboard.php file, allowing any remote attacker to bypass normal access controls and gain unrestricted view access to the administrator dashboard. This represents a fundamental breakdown in the application's security architecture where the system fails to implement proper session management, user role verification, or access token validation mechanisms. Attackers can exploit this weakness without requiring any valid credentials or prior access to the system, making it particularly dangerous as it provides immediate access to administrative functions that typically require legitimate user authentication.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends far beyond simple information disclosure, as it provides attackers with comprehensive access to the administrative dashboard which likely contains sensitive configuration data, user management controls, system settings, and potentially database access points. This access could enable attackers to modify system configurations, add or remove users, change system parameters, or even escalate their privileges to full administrative control. The vulnerability affects organizations using the Kashipara system for school management, potentially exposing educational institutions to data breaches, system compromise, and unauthorized modifications to critical administrative functions. The remote nature of the attack means that threat actors can exploit this vulnerability from anywhere on the internet without requiring physical access or local network presence, significantly expanding the attack surface and potential impact.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability must address both immediate remediation and long-term security improvements. Organizations should immediately implement access control patches or updates provided by the vendor to address the authentication bypass in the admin_dashboard.php file. Network-level protections including firewall rules to restrict access to administrative interfaces, implementation of multi-factor authentication for administrative access, and regular security audits should be enforced. The vulnerability highlights the importance of following secure coding practices and implementing proper input validation, authentication checks, and authorization controls as outlined in the OWASP Top Ten security principles. Additionally, organizations should conduct comprehensive security assessments of their web applications to identify similar access control flaws and implement proper security monitoring to detect unauthorized access attempts to administrative interfaces. This vulnerability serves as a reminder of the critical importance of proper access control implementation in web applications and the potential consequences of failing to validate user privileges before granting access to sensitive system components.