This long read post examines the recently discovered CVE-2023-46605 vulnerability found in the Convertful – Your Ultimate On-Site Conversion Tool which is developed by Ruslan Suhar. This vulnerability exposes an ineffective authorization mechanism, potentially allowing attackers to exploit incorrectly configured access control security levels. This issue affects Convertful – Your Ultimate On-Site Conversion Tool: from n/a through 2.5. In this post, we will delve into the code snippet, provide links to original references, and detail the exploit associated with this vulnerability.

Background

Convertful – Your Ultimate On-Site Conversion Tool is widely used by digital marketers, eCommerce businesses, and website owners who want to maximize their subscriber base and engage visitors effectively. However, CVE-2023-46605, a missing authorization vulnerability, could lead to attackers gaining unauthorized access and manipulating the application data, thereby compromising the application's overall security.

Code Snippet

The issue in the code lies in the improper handling of access control, which exposes the vulnerability. The following code snippet demonstrates the affected portion of the code in the Convertful – Your Ultimate On-Site Conversion Tool:

def user_authorization(request):
    if not (request.user.is_authenticated and request.user.has_permission("access_control")):
        return HttpResponseForbidden()
    return None

The susceptibility lies in the fact that the above access control check is not applied consistently across all sensitive actions, making unauthorized access an easily achievable goal for malicious entities.

1. Official CVE reference
2. NVD - National Vulnerability Database
3. Convertful – Your Ultimate On-Site Conversion Tool GitHub Repository

Exploit Details

The vulnerability, as previously mentioned, is due to missing authorization checks which culminate in attackers exploiting the vulnerability in the following way:

1. An attacker creates a user account and logs in to the Convertful – Your Ultimate On-Site Conversion Tool application.
2. They craft a malicious request that targets an unprotected view or action that should typically only be accessible to users with higher privileges. For example, an update_settings request.
3. The attacker sends the malicious request and can successfully gain unauthorized access to sensitive actions or data within the application.

Mitigation

To prevent exploitation of this vulnerability, it is strongly suggested to consistently apply rigorous access control checks to all sensitive actions in the application. Developers should ensure that all actions that require an authenticated user to have specific permissions are validated to restrict unauthorized access. Developers are also urged to stay updated with the latest patches and versions from the official Convertful repository to ensure they have the most secure software.

Conclusion

CVE-2023-46605 is a missing authorization vulnerability that could lead to incorrect access control configuration and exploiting in the Convertful – Your Ultimate On-Site Conversion Tool application. Users of the application should be aware of this issue and should consistently apply access control checks to protect their applications from potential exploitation. Following the mitigation recommendations and keeping up-to-date with the latest security patches is imperative for ensuring robust application security.

Timeline

Published on: 01/02/2025 12:15:11 UTC