Cross-Site Request Forgery in Apache Roller

Executive Summary

This is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Apache Roller 6.1.5. It allows a remote attacker to trick a logged-in user into performing unintended actions on the application under the victim's session. The issue occurs because the CSRF validation filters accept requests without the required salt token, instead validating against a server-generated value for that specific request.

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Detection Guidance

Detecting this CSRF vulnerability requires checking Apache Roller version and reviewing request handling for missing salt token validation. Inspect server logs for requests without proper salt tokens and verify if multipart forms bypass CSRF checks. No specific commands are provided in the context.

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Impact Analysis

An attacker could exploit this to perform state-changing actions on behalf of a logged-in user, such as creating, modifying, or deleting content, changing user settings, or even escalating privileges. Any logged-in author or administrator is at risk if they visit a specially crafted malicious webpage while authenticated.

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Compliance Impact

This vulnerability could lead to unauthorized data modifications or access, potentially violating integrity and confidentiality requirements in GDPR and HIPAA. Unauthorized changes to user data or system settings may result in non-compliance with data protection and security controls mandated by these regulations.

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Mitigation Strategies

Upgrade Apache Roller to version 6.1.6 or later to address the CSRF vulnerability. Ensure the new version validates submitted salt tokens and applies checks to multipart forms. Remove any unused salt.ignored.urls settings as they are no longer needed.

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