ProjectSend: authentication bypass flaw under attack

What is affected

ProjectSend is mostly run by companies, schools and public bodies, not on home computers. You are unlikely to have it yourself, but organisations that hold your data may. Breaches that start with flaws like this one are how personal data ends up leaked.

ProjectSend contains an improper authentication vulnerability that allows a remote, unauthenticated attacker to enable unauthorized modification of the application's configuration via crafted HTTP requests to options.php. Successful exploitation allows attackers to create accounts, upload webshells, and embed malicious JavaScript.

What an attacker can do

This is a authentication bypass flaw. It lets an attacker get in without a valid username and password and act as a legitimate user, often as an administrator.

How it is reached

Over the internet or network

Access the attacker needs

No account needed

Does the victim have to do something?

No, works without the victim doing anything

What to do

1. At home: nothing to install. Keep your own devices updated and use a different password for every service, so that a breach at one organisation does not open your other accounts.
2. If you administer ProjectSend at work: apply the vendor's fix or mitigation now and review logs for signs of compromise, because the flaw was being exploited before it was listed.
3. If the product is past its support date and no fix exists, take it off the internet or retire it.

Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

Vendor advisories and fixes

• github.comgithub.com/projectsend/projectsend/commit/193367d937b1a59ed5b68dd4e60bd53317473744

How urgent is it

CISA added this vulnerability to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue on December 3, 2024, which means there is reliable evidence of attacks in the wild. US federal agencies must fix it by December 24, 2024, a deadline that has already passed. That deadline does not bind anyone else, but it shows how seriously the agency rates it.

The EPSS model estimates a 92% probability that this flaw will be exploited somewhere in the next 30 days. That is higher than 99.8% of all scored vulnerabilities.

Its CVSS severity score is 9.8 out of 10 (critical), as recorded in the US National Vulnerability Database.

Technical description

ProjectSend versions prior to r1720 are affected by an improper authentication vulnerability. Remote, unauthenticated attackers can exploit this flaw by sending crafted HTTP requests to options.php, enabling unauthorized modification of the application's configuration. Successful exploitation allows attackers to create accounts, upload webshells, and embed malicious JavaScript.