CVE-2024-45264 in Arfa-CMS
Summary
by MITRE • 08/27/2024
A cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the admin panel in SkySystem Arfa-CMS before 5.1.3124 allows remote attackers to add a new administrator, leading to escalation of privileges.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/12/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-45264 represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw within the administrative interface of SkySystem Arfa-CMS versions prior to 5.1.3124. This weakness resides in the web application's failure to properly validate and authenticate administrative actions submitted through the admin panel, creating a pathway for malicious actors to exploit the system's trust relationship with legitimate users. The flaw specifically affects the authorization mechanisms that should prevent unauthorized administrative operations, allowing attackers to manipulate the system's administrative functions through crafted requests that appear to originate from authenticated administrators. This vulnerability operates under the Common Weakness Enumeration category CWE-352, which classifies cross-site request forgery as a fundamental web application security weakness that undermines the principle of proper authentication and authorization controls.
The technical exploitation of this CSRF vulnerability enables remote attackers to perform administrative actions without possessing valid credentials or session tokens. Attackers can construct malicious web pages or send targeted requests that, when executed by an authenticated administrator, result in the creation of new administrative accounts. This process effectively bypasses the normal account creation and privilege assignment procedures that should require explicit administrative approval and authentication. The flaw demonstrates a complete breakdown in the application's anti-CSRF protection mechanisms, particularly within the administrative user management functionality where new administrator accounts are created. The vulnerability operates at the application layer and requires no special privileges to initiate, making it particularly dangerous as it can be exploited through social engineering techniques or by tricking administrators into visiting malicious websites while authenticated to the vulnerable system.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends far beyond simple privilege escalation, as it fundamentally compromises the security model of the entire SkySystem Arfa-CMS platform. Once an attacker successfully creates a new administrator account, they gain complete control over the system's configuration, user management, content modification capabilities, and access to sensitive data. This privilege escalation can lead to data breaches, unauthorized modifications, system compromise, and potential lateral movement within network environments where the CMS operates. The vulnerability affects the system's integrity and confidentiality properties, as unauthorized parties can manipulate the administrative access controls that should maintain the system's security boundaries. The exploitation can occur without detection, as the malicious actions appear to originate from legitimate administrative users, making it difficult to identify unauthorized activities within system logs and audit trails.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2024-45264 should focus on implementing robust anti-CSRF protection mechanisms within the administrative interface. Organizations must ensure that all administrative operations require proper validation through anti-CSRF tokens that are unique to each user session and are verified before executing privileged actions. The implementation should follow the principles outlined in the OWASP Top Ten and the ATT&CK framework's privilege escalation techniques, particularly focusing on the prevention of unauthorized administrative account creation. Immediate remediation includes upgrading to SkySystem Arfa-CMS version 5.1.3124 or later, which contains the necessary patches to address the CSRF vulnerability. Additionally, organizations should implement proper session management controls, enforce strict input validation for administrative functions, and establish monitoring mechanisms to detect unusual administrative activities that might indicate exploitation attempts. Network segmentation and access controls should be reviewed to limit the potential impact if the vulnerability is successfully exploited, while also ensuring that administrative interfaces are protected through proper authentication mechanisms and that users are educated about the risks of visiting untrusted websites while authenticated to administrative systems.