Executive Summary

This vulnerability is a Broken Access Control issue in the SourceCodester Online Boat Reservation System version 1.0. It allows low-privileged, authenticated users to access administrative functions without proper authorization.

Attackers can manipulate object identifiers, such as the 'editid' parameter, to directly access sensitive admin endpoints like /boat/admin/index.php and /boat/admin/boatsupdate.php?editid=78. This bypasses permission checks and lets unauthorized users perform administrative actions.

As a result, unauthorized users can modify boat details and tamper with application data that should only be accessible to administrators. The root cause is missing server-side authorization checks, allowing direct access to admin pages and data modification without proper validation.

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Impact Analysis

This vulnerability can impact you by allowing unauthorized users to perform administrative actions within the application.

• Unauthorized modification of boat details and other sensitive data.
• Compromise of data integrity due to unauthorized data tampering.
• Potential disruption of normal administrative operations.

Overall, it undermines the security and trustworthiness of the system by allowing low-privileged users to escalate their privileges and access restricted functions.

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Detection Guidance

This vulnerability can be detected by attempting to access administrative endpoints with a low-privileged user account and checking if unauthorized access is granted.

• Use an authenticated normal user account to send HTTP requests to admin endpoints such as /boat/admin/index.php and /boat/admin/boatsupdate.php?editid=78.
• Modify the 'editid' parameter in the URL to test if you can access or modify boat details without proper authorization.
• Example curl command to test access: curl -i -b cookies.txt https://targetsite.com/boat/admin/index.php
• Example curl command to test parameter manipulation: curl -i -b cookies.txt "https://targetsite.com/boat/admin/boatsupdate.php?editid=78"

If these requests succeed without proper authorization checks (e.g., no HTTP 403 Forbidden response), the vulnerability is present.

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Mitigation Strategies

Immediate mitigation steps include implementing strict server-side access controls and enforcing role-based permissions.

• Ensure that all administrative endpoints validate user privileges before granting access.
• Return HTTP 403 Forbidden errors for unauthorized access attempts to sensitive admin pages.
• Review and fix missing authorization checks on the server side to prevent direct access to admin functions by low-privileged users.

These steps will help prevent unauthorized users from performing administrative actions and tampering with application data.

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Compliance Impact

The vulnerability allows low-privileged users to bypass authorization and access administrative functions, leading to unauthorized modification of sensitive data and compromising data integrity.

Such unauthorized access and data tampering can result in non-compliance with common standards and regulations like GDPR and HIPAA, which require strict access controls and protection of sensitive information.

Failure to enforce proper authorization and role-based permissions increases the risk of data breaches and unauthorized data manipulation, potentially violating regulatory requirements for data confidentiality, integrity, and accountability.

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