CVE-2024-41344
📋 TL;DR
This CSRF vulnerability in CodeIgniter 3.1.13 allows attackers to trick authenticated administrators into unknowingly changing their own passwords. Attackers can then take over administrator accounts and escalate privileges. Only CodeIgniter 3.1.13 applications with administrator interfaces are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- CodeIgniter
📦 What is this software?
Codeigniter by Codeigniter
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete system compromise where attackers gain administrator access, modify all data, install backdoors, and potentially pivot to other systems.
Likely Case
Administrator account takeover leading to data manipulation, privilege escalation, and unauthorized configuration changes.
If Mitigated
Attack fails due to CSRF tokens or other protections, with no impact on system security.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires tricking an authenticated administrator to visit a malicious page. The GitHub issue shows proof of concept.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: CodeIgniter 3.1.14 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/bcit-ci/CodeIgniter/releases
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Backup your application. 2. Update CodeIgniter to version 3.1.14 or later. 3. Replace the system/core/Security.php file with the patched version. 4. Test administrator password change functionality.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Add CSRF Protection to Password Change Form
allManually add CSRF tokens to administrator password change forms if you cannot update immediately.
Add <?php echo csrf_field(); ?> to password change form in your view files
Implement Additional Authentication for Sensitive Actions
allRequire re-authentication (current password) before allowing password changes.
Modify controller to verify current password before processing password change
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement network segmentation to restrict access to administrator interfaces
- Use web application firewalls (WAF) with CSRF protection rules
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check if your application uses CodeIgniter 3.1.13 by examining the system/core/CodeIgniter.php file version constant.Check Version:
grep "define('CI_VERSION'," system/core/CodeIgniter.phpVerify Fix Applied:
After updating, verify the version shows 3.1.14 or later and test that password change forms include CSRF tokens.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Multiple administrator password change attempts from same IP
- Password changes without corresponding login events
Network Indicators:
- POST requests to password change endpoints without Referer headers or CSRF tokens
SIEM Query:
source="web_logs" AND (uri_path="/admin/change_password" OR uri_path="/admin/update_password") AND NOT csrf_token=*