CVE-2025-27353 in Namaste LMS Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 02/24/2025
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Bob Namaste! LMS allows Cross Site Request Forgery. This issue affects Namaste! LMS: from n/a through 2.6.5.
Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/24/2025
The CVE-2025-27353 vulnerability represents a critical Cross-Site Request Forgery flaw within the Bob Namaste! LMS platform, specifically impacting versions ranging from an unspecified starting point through version 2.6.5. This vulnerability exposes the learning management system to unauthorized administrative actions that can be executed without proper user consent or authentication. The flaw resides in the application's failure to implement adequate anti-CSRF mechanisms, allowing malicious actors to craft deceptive requests that appear to originate from legitimate authenticated users. Such vulnerabilities are particularly dangerous in educational platforms where administrators often possess extensive privileges over course content, user management, and system configurations.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the absence of proper anti-CSRF tokens or mechanisms within the LMS's request processing pipeline. When users navigate to the platform and maintain authenticated sessions, the application should validate that each request originates from the legitimate user by requiring a unique, unpredictable token that is tied to the user's session. Without this validation, attackers can exploit the trust relationship between the browser and the application to perform unauthorized actions. This typically occurs through social engineering attacks where users are tricked into visiting malicious websites or clicking on compromised links that automatically submit forged requests to the vulnerable LMS system. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery weaknesses in web applications.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data manipulation, as it could enable attackers to compromise the entire learning management system. An attacker who successfully exploits this CSRF flaw could potentially modify user permissions, delete courses, alter grades, or even gain administrative access to the platform. In educational environments, this could result in significant disruption to learning activities, data breaches, or unauthorized access to sensitive student information. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it affects a widely used LMS platform where administrators may have elevated privileges that could be leveraged to cause substantial harm to educational institutions. The attack surface is amplified by the fact that many educational institutions rely heavily on LMS platforms for core operations, making them attractive targets for cybercriminals seeking to disrupt educational services or extract sensitive data.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2025-27353 should prioritize immediate implementation of proper anti-CSRF token mechanisms throughout the LMS platform. Organizations should ensure that all state-changing requests require unique, unpredictable tokens that are validated against the user's session before processing. The implementation should follow established security best practices including the use of secure, random token generation and proper token validation procedures. Additionally, organizations should implement Content Security Policy headers and SameSite cookie attributes to provide additional layers of protection against CSRF attacks. Regular security assessments and code reviews should be conducted to identify and remediate similar vulnerabilities within the platform. This vulnerability also highlights the importance of keeping all software components updated, as the affected versions through 2.6.5 represent a window of opportunity for attackers to exploit the flaw. The remediation efforts should align with ATT&CK framework techniques related to credential access and privilege escalation, as this vulnerability could potentially enable attackers to gain unauthorized access to administrative functions within the learning management system.