CVE-2023-31704

9.8 CRITICAL

📋 TL;DR

CVE-2023-31704 is an incorrect access control vulnerability in Sourcecodester Online Computer and Laptop Store 1.0 that allows remote attackers to escalate privileges to administrator role. This affects all installations of version 1.0 of this PHP/MySQL e-commerce software. Attackers can gain full administrative control over the store.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:
  • Sourcecodester Online Computer and Laptop Store
Versions: 1.0
Operating Systems: Any OS running PHP/MySQL
Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes
Notes: All default installations of version 1.0 are vulnerable. No special configuration required for exploitation.

📦 What is this software?

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Complete compromise of the e-commerce system including customer data theft, financial fraud, website defacement, and installation of backdoors.

🟠

Likely Case

Unauthorized administrative access leading to data manipulation, order tampering, and potential data exfiltration.

🟢

If Mitigated

Limited impact with proper network segmentation and monitoring, but still represents a significant authentication bypass.

🌐 Internet-Facing: HIGH - This is a web application typically exposed to the internet, allowing remote exploitation.
🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM - If deployed internally only, risk is reduced but still significant for internal attackers.

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ⚠️ Yes
Weaponized: LIKELY
Unauthenticated Exploit: ⚠️ Yes
Complexity: LOW

Public proof-of-concept code exists on GitHub. Exploitation appears straightforward based on available information.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: Not available

Vendor Advisory: Not available

Restart Required: No

Instructions:

No official patch available. Consider upgrading to a different e-commerce platform or implementing custom security fixes.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Implement custom access control validation

all

Add server-side authorization checks for all administrative endpoints

Manual code modification required - no single command

Web Application Firewall rules

all

Block requests to administrative endpoints from non-admin users

WAF-specific configuration required

🧯 If You Can't Patch

  • Isolate the application in a segmented network with strict access controls
  • Implement comprehensive logging and monitoring for privilege escalation attempts

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check if running Sourcecodester Online Computer and Laptop Store version 1.0. Test if non-admin users can access admin.php or similar administrative endpoints.

Check Version:

Check PHP files for version information or review installation documentation

Verify Fix Applied:

Verify that non-admin users cannot access administrative functions and that proper session validation is implemented.

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

  • Unauthorized access to admin.php or similar administrative endpoints
  • User privilege changes from regular to admin
  • Failed authentication attempts followed by successful admin access

Network Indicators:

  • HTTP requests to administrative endpoints from non-admin IPs
  • Unusual patterns in user-agent or referrer headers

SIEM Query:

web_access_logs WHERE (uri CONTAINS 'admin' OR uri CONTAINS 'privilege') AND user_role != 'admin' AND response_code = 200

🔗 References

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