CVE-2024-42555 in Hotel Management System
Summary
by MITRE • 08/20/2024
A Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) in the component admin_room_removed.php of Hotel Management System commit 91caab8 allows attackers to escalate privileges.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/14/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-42555 represents a critical Cross-Site Request Forgery flaw within the Hotel Management System application. This vulnerability exists in the admin_room_removed.php component, which is part of the system's administrative interface responsible for managing room removal operations. The flaw stems from insufficient validation of request origins and lack of proper anti-CSRF token implementation, creating a pathway for malicious actors to exploit the system's administrative functions. The vulnerability was discovered in commit 91caab8, indicating it was introduced during a specific code modification cycle, suggesting the issue may have been introduced through inadequate security review processes during development.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability allows attackers to manipulate administrative functions without proper authorization by leveraging the trust relationship between the web application and authenticated users. When an administrator performs actions within the hotel management system, particularly those related to room removal operations, the application fails to adequately verify that requests originate from legitimate administrative sources. This absence of proper CSRF protection mechanisms means that malicious actors can craft specially crafted requests that, when executed by an authenticated administrator, will perform unauthorized actions. The vulnerability specifically targets the room removal functionality, which could potentially be leveraged to escalate privileges by removing critical system resources or manipulating room availability data that could impact administrative access controls.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple privilege escalation to encompass potential data integrity compromise and system availability disruption. An attacker exploiting this CSRF flaw could remove rooms from the system database, potentially causing service disruptions for legitimate users while simultaneously gaining unauthorized access to administrative functions. The ability to escalate privileges through room removal operations suggests that the system's access control mechanisms may be interconnected, where manipulating room data could inadvertently affect user permissions or administrative capabilities. This vulnerability directly violates the principle of least privilege and could enable attackers to gain unauthorized access to sensitive administrative functions that should only be available to authorized personnel. The attack vector requires minimal sophistication and could be executed through social engineering techniques, making it particularly dangerous in environments where administrators frequently visit external websites.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should prioritize immediate implementation of robust anti-CSRF protection mechanisms including the use of unique, unpredictable tokens for each administrative session. The system must implement proper origin validation and ensure that all administrative operations require explicit confirmation tokens that are tied to the user's current session. Organizations should implement comprehensive input validation and ensure that the admin_room_removed.php component requires multi-factor authentication for critical operations. The fix should align with established security standards including CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery vulnerabilities, and should follow ATT&CK technique T1548.003 for privilege escalation through administrative access. Additionally, implementing proper logging and monitoring of administrative operations will help detect potential exploitation attempts and provide forensic evidence for security investigations. Regular security testing including penetration testing and code review processes should be implemented to prevent similar vulnerabilities from being introduced in future releases.