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How CVE-2020-7993 Works
The ticket creation functionality in Prototype 1.6.0.1 accepts user-supplied input for the email ID field without proper validation or ownership verification. An authenticated attacker can modify this email ID parameter in the client-side request, causing the system to create a support ticket on behalf of another user account. The vulnerability arises because the endpoint does not verify that the email ID provided in the request corresponds to the authenticated user’s own account. Instead, it blindly trusts the user-supplied identifier and proceeds with ticket creation.
This is a classic Insecure Direct Object Reference (IDOR) flaw, categorized under CWE-639 (Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key). The attack requires the user to be authenticated, which limits the attack surface to subscribers or higher-privileged users. However, once authenticated, the attacker can manipulate the email ID field to impersonate any other user in the system.
The impact is limited to ticket creation; the attacker does not gain direct access to the victim’s account, service data, or other sensitive information. However, the forged ticket may contain references or links that could be used for further social engineering or to cause confusion within the support workflow. The vulnerability does not allow modification of existing tickets or retrieval of confidential data through the same endpoint. Nevertheless, it undermines the integrity of the ticketing system and can lead to support staff interacting with the wrong customer accounts.
This flaw is particularly dangerous in multi-tenant environments where support tickets are used to manage customer requests across different organizations. An attacker could create tickets that appear to originate from a high-value customer, potentially leading to unauthorized service interactions or data exposure. The vulnerability was publicly disclosed and assigned CVE-2020-7993, with a CVSS score of 5.3 (Medium). No public exploit code is known to exist, but the issue remains a concern for sites with many authenticated users.
DailyCVE Form:
Platform: Prototype
Version: 1.6.0.1
Vulnerability: IDOR – Forged Ticket Creation
Severity: MEDIUM (CVSS 5.3)
date: 2020-02-03
Prediction: 2020-02-10
What Undercode Say:
Analytics:
- The vulnerability allows authenticated users to manipulate the email ID field.
- No ownership validation is performed on the user-supplied identifier.
- Attackers can impersonate any other user in the system.
- The flaw is limited to ticket creation, not modification or data retrieval.
- CVSS score indicates moderate risk with low complexity.
Bash Commands & Codes:
Example curl command to exploit CVE-2020-7993 Replace TARGET_URL, SESSION_COOKIE, and VICTIM_EMAIL with actual values curl -X POST TARGET_URL/ticket/create \ -H "Cookie: SESSION_COOKIE" \ -d "email=VICTIM_EMAIL&subject=Forged Ticket&message=This ticket is forged"
Python PoC for CVE-2020-7993
import requests
session = requests.Session()
session.cookies.set("sessionid", "ATTACKER_SESSION")
payload = {
"email": "[email protected]",
"subject": "Unauthorized Request",
"message": "This ticket was created using CVE-2020-7993"
}
response = session.post("https://target.com/ticket/create", data=payload)
print(response.status_code)
Exploit:
- Authenticate to the Prototype application with a valid user account.
- Intercept the ticket creation request using a proxy tool (e.g., Burp Suite).
- Modify the `email` parameter in the POST request to the target victim’s email address.
- Submit the request. The system will create a ticket associated with the victim’s account.
- The forged ticket will appear in the support queue as if created by the victim.
Protection:
- Upgrade to a patched version of Prototype (if available).
- Implement server-side ownership validation for all user-supplied identifiers.
- Enforce proper authorization checks before processing ticket creation requests.
- Use indirect references (e.g., random tokens) instead of direct object identifiers.
- Regularly audit and test for IDOR vulnerabilities in all endpoints.
Impact:
- Confidentiality: Low – No direct data access, but ticket content may expose information.
- Integrity: Low – Attackers can create fraudulent tickets, potentially misleading support staff.
- Availability: None – The vulnerability does not affect system uptime.
- Business Impact: Reputational damage and potential confusion in customer support workflows.
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Sources:
Reported By: github.com
Extra Source Hub:
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