CVE-2024-13291
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability in Drupal's Basic HTTP Authentication module allows attackers to bypass authorization checks and access restricted content through forceful browsing. It affects Drupal 7 sites using the Basic HTTP Authentication module versions 7.x-1.0 through 7.x-1.3. Attackers can exploit this to view content they shouldn't have permission to access.
💻 Affected Systems
- Drupal Basic HTTP Authentication module
📦 What is this software?
Basic Http Authentication by Basic Http Authentication Project
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers gain unauthorized access to sensitive administrative interfaces, user data, or confidential content, potentially leading to data breaches or privilege escalation.
Likely Case
Unauthorized users access restricted content pages, user profiles, or administrative sections they shouldn't be able to view.
If Mitigated
With proper access controls and monitoring, impact is limited to unauthorized viewing of non-critical content.
🎯 Exploit Status
Requires understanding of Drupal's URL structure and access patterns. Attackers need to know or guess restricted URLs.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 7.x-1.4
Vendor Advisory: https://www.drupal.org/sa-contrib-2024-057
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Update the Basic HTTP Authentication module to version 7.x-1.4 via Drupal's update manager or manually. 2. Clear Drupal caches. 3. Verify the update was successful.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable Basic HTTP Authentication module
allTemporarily disable the vulnerable module until patching is possible
drush pm-disable basic_auth
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement additional access controls at web server level (e.g., .htaccess restrictions)
- Enable detailed logging and monitoring for unauthorized access attempts to restricted URLs
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check if Basic HTTP Authentication module is enabled and version is between 7.x-1.0 and 7.x-1.3Check Version:
drush pml | grep basic_authVerify Fix Applied:
Confirm module version is 7.x-1.4 or higher and test access to restricted content📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Multiple 200/403 responses to restricted URLs from same IP
- Access patterns showing users viewing content outside their permissions
Network Indicators:
- Unusual HTTP GET requests to admin or restricted paths
SIEM Query:
source="drupal_access_log" AND (status=200 OR status=403) AND uri IN ("/admin/*", "/user/*", "/node/*/edit") | stats count by src_ip uri