CVE-2018-25363 Overview
CVE-2018-25363 is a cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Twitter-Clone 1, an open-source PHP social media application. The flaw resides in tweetdel.php, which accepts tweet deletion requests without validating an anti-CSRF token or verifying request origin. Remote attackers can craft malicious HTML forms that submit hidden requests to the vulnerable endpoint, forcing authenticated victims to delete arbitrary posts from their accounts. The issue is tracked under CWE-352: Cross-Site Request Forgery.
Critical Impact
Authenticated users visiting attacker-controlled pages can have arbitrary tweets silently deleted without consent or interaction beyond loading the malicious page.
Affected Products
- Twitter-Clone version 1 (PHP-Twitter-Clone by Fyffe)
- The tweetdel.php deletion endpoint
- Any deployment relying on session-based authentication without CSRF protection
Discovery Timeline
- 2026-05-25 - CVE-2018-25363 published to NVD
- 2026-05-26 - Last updated in NVD database
Technical Details for CVE-2018-25363
Vulnerability Analysis
The Twitter-Clone application implements tweet deletion through tweetdel.php, which processes deletion requests based solely on session cookies. The endpoint accepts a tweet identifier parameter and removes the corresponding record without verifying that the request originated from the application's own user interface. Because browsers automatically attach session cookies to cross-origin form submissions, any third-party site can issue state-changing requests on behalf of an authenticated victim.
Root Cause
The root cause is the absence of anti-CSRF tokens [CWE-352] on state-changing operations. The deletion handler does not generate or validate a per-session, per-request nonce. It also does not check the Origin or Referer headers, and the application does not enforce the SameSite cookie attribute. These omissions allow any external page to forge authenticated requests that the server treats as legitimate.
Attack Vector
An attacker hosts a webpage containing a hidden HTML form whose action attribute targets the victim instance's tweetdel.php endpoint. The form includes a hidden input field carrying the target tweet identifier. JavaScript on the attacker's page auto-submits the form when a logged-in victim loads the page. The browser attaches the victim's authenticated session cookie, and the server processes the deletion as if the user had initiated it. The attack requires no user interaction beyond visiting the malicious page and is delivered through standard phishing or watering-hole techniques. Technical details are documented in Exploit-DB #45232 and the VulnCheck advisory.
Detection Methods for CVE-2018-25363
Indicators of Compromise
- Unexpected POST or GET requests to tweetdel.php with Referer headers pointing to external domains
- Bursts of tweet deletion events not preceded by navigation from the application's own pages
- User reports of tweets disappearing without their action
- Web server access logs showing deletion requests with empty or third-party Origin headers
Detection Strategies
- Inspect HTTP request logs for state-changing requests to tweetdel.php lacking same-origin Referer values
- Correlate session activity with deletion events to flag deletions occurring during periods of inactivity in the application UI
- Deploy a web application firewall (WAF) rule to alert on cross-origin form submissions to deletion endpoints
Monitoring Recommendations
- Forward web server and PHP application logs to a centralized log platform for correlation against session telemetry
- Track per-user deletion velocity and alert on spikes inconsistent with typical activity
- Monitor for outbound links in phishing-style emails or messages that point to authenticated endpoints of the application
How to Mitigate CVE-2018-25363
Immediate Actions Required
- Restrict access to deployed Twitter-Clone instances or take them offline until CSRF protection is implemented
- Add server-side validation of an anti-CSRF token on every request to tweetdel.php and all other state-changing endpoints
- Configure session cookies with the SameSite=Strict or SameSite=Lax attribute to block cross-site cookie attachment
- Validate the Origin and Referer headers against an allow-list of trusted hosts
Patch Information
No official vendor patch is referenced in the advisory. The upstream project is available at PHP-Twitter-Clone on GitHub. Operators must apply manual code changes to introduce per-session CSRF tokens, switch deletion handlers to POST with token verification, and harden cookie attributes. Review the VulnCheck advisory for remediation guidance.
Workarounds
- Place the application behind a reverse proxy or WAF that strips or blocks cross-origin requests to deletion endpoints
- Require re-authentication or a confirmation step before processing tweet deletions
- Disable the deletion feature until a patched build with CSRF tokens is deployed
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
