CVE-2023-0905
📋 TL;DR
This critical vulnerability in SourceCodester Employee Task Management System 1.0 allows attackers to bypass authentication mechanisms via the changePasswordForEmployee.php file. Attackers can remotely exploit this to gain unauthorized access to employee accounts and potentially administrative functions. All deployments of version 1.0 are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- SourceCodester Employee Task Management System
📦 What is this software?
Employee Task Management System by Employee Task Management System Project
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete system compromise allowing attackers to reset any user's password, access sensitive employee data, modify system configurations, and potentially achieve remote code execution.
Likely Case
Unauthorized access to employee accounts leading to data theft, privilege escalation, and manipulation of task management data.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper network segmentation, strong authentication controls, and monitoring in place.
🎯 Exploit Status
Public exploit code is available on GitHub demonstrating the authentication bypass. The attack requires minimal technical skill to execute.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Unknown
Vendor Advisory: None available
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
No official patch available. Consider upgrading to a newer version if available, or implement workarounds and monitoring.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable vulnerable endpoint
linuxTemporarily disable or restrict access to changePasswordForEmployee.php
mv /path/to/changePasswordForEmployee.php /path/to/changePasswordForEmployee.php.disabled
chmod 000 /path/to/changePasswordForEmployee.php
Implement web application firewall rules
allBlock requests to the vulnerable endpoint using WAF
# Example for mod_security: SecRule REQUEST_URI "changePasswordForEmployee\.php" "id:1001,phase:1,deny"
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict network access controls to limit who can access the application
- Enable detailed logging and monitoring for authentication attempts and password change activities
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check if changePasswordForEmployee.php exists in the web directory and test if password changes can be performed without proper authentication.Check Version:
Check application version in admin panel or readme files, or examine file metadata/timestamps.Verify Fix Applied:
Verify the file is removed/disabled and test authentication bypass attempts fail.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Multiple failed authentication attempts followed by successful password changes
- Unusual password reset requests from unexpected IP addresses
- Access to changePasswordForEmployee.php without preceding login events
Network Indicators:
- HTTP POST requests to changePasswordForEmployee.php with unusual parameters
- Rapid succession of password change requests
SIEM Query:
source="web_logs" AND (uri="*changePasswordForEmployee.php*" AND NOT user_agent="*bot*") | stats count by src_ip🔗 References
- https://github.com/navaidzansari/CVE_Demo/blob/main/2023/Employee%20Task%20Management%20System%20-%20Broken%20Authentication.md
- https://vuldb.com/?ctiid.221454
- https://vuldb.com/?id.221454
- https://github.com/navaidzansari/CVE_Demo/blob/main/2023/Employee%20Task%20Management%20System%20-%20Broken%20Authentication.md
- https://vuldb.com/?ctiid.221454
- https://vuldb.com/?id.221454
