CVE-2020-37145: HRSALE CSRF Vulnerability

CVE-2020-37145 Overview

CVE-2020-37145 is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in HRSALE version 1.1.8, a human resource management system. This vulnerability allows attackers to add unauthorized administrative users through the employee registration form by crafting malicious HTML pages that trick authenticated administrators into performing unintended actions.

Critical Impact

Attackers can exploit this CSRF vulnerability to create new user accounts with elevated administrative privileges, potentially gaining full control over the HR management system and accessing sensitive employee data.

Affected Products

• HRSALE version 1.1.8

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-02-05 - CVE-2020-37145 published to NVD
• 2026-02-05 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2020-37145

Vulnerability Analysis

This Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability exists in the employee registration functionality of HRSALE 1.1.8. The application fails to implement proper anti-CSRF tokens or other request validation mechanisms on state-changing operations, specifically the endpoint responsible for creating new user accounts.

When an authenticated administrator visits a malicious web page controlled by an attacker, the page can automatically submit a crafted form to the HRSALE application. Since the administrator's browser automatically includes session cookies with the request, the HRSALE application processes the request as if it were a legitimate action initiated by the administrator.

The vulnerability allows attackers to create new administrative accounts without the knowledge or consent of legitimate administrators, effectively bypassing authentication controls through social engineering techniques.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability is the absence of CSRF protection mechanisms in the HRSALE employee registration form. The application does not validate that form submissions originate from legitimate application pages using anti-CSRF tokens, same-site cookie attributes, or origin header verification. This allows cross-origin requests from attacker-controlled websites to be processed as valid administrative actions.

Attack Vector

The attack vector for CVE-2020-37145 is network-based and requires user interaction. An attacker must craft a malicious HTML page containing hidden form fields that target the HRSALE employee registration endpoint. The attacker then needs to trick an authenticated administrator into visiting this malicious page—typically through phishing emails, malicious links on forums, or compromised websites.

When the administrator's browser loads the malicious page, JavaScript or auto-submitting forms send a POST request to the HRSALE application with attacker-controlled parameters, including details for a new administrative user account. The administrator's active session authenticates this request, and the HRSALE application creates the unauthorized account.

For detailed technical information and proof-of-concept code, refer to the Exploit-DB #48205 entry and the VulnCheck CSRF Advisory.

Detection Methods for CVE-2020-37145

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected new administrative or privileged user accounts in the HRSALE system
• User creation timestamps that coincide with known administrator browsing sessions but were not intentionally initiated
• Audit logs showing account creation from unusual referrer headers or missing CSRF tokens

Detection Strategies

• Monitor HRSALE user management logs for unauthorized account creation events
• Implement web application firewall rules to detect and block cross-origin form submissions to sensitive endpoints
• Review HTTP request logs for account creation requests with suspicious or missing Referer headers
• Deploy browser-based security extensions for administrators to prevent automatic form submissions

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable detailed audit logging for all user account creation and privilege modification events
• Set up alerts for new administrator account creation to require secondary verification
• Monitor for unusual patterns of administrative actions occurring in quick succession

How to Mitigate CVE-2020-37145

Immediate Actions Required

• Audit existing HRSALE user accounts and remove any unauthorized administrative users
• Restrict access to the HRSALE administrative interface to trusted network segments or VPN-only access
• Educate administrators about phishing risks and the importance of not clicking untrusted links while logged into HRSALE
• Consider temporarily disabling external access to the employee registration functionality until patched

Patch Information

No official vendor patch information is currently available for this vulnerability. The HRSALE product website has been archived, suggesting the product may no longer be actively maintained. Organizations using HRSALE 1.1.8 should consider migrating to an actively supported HR management solution. For historical reference, the original product site can be viewed via the Archived HR Sale Website.

Workarounds

• Implement a web application firewall (WAF) with CSRF protection rules in front of the HRSALE application
• Add custom CSRF token validation at the web server or reverse proxy level if application modification is not possible
• Restrict the employee registration endpoint to only accept requests from trusted origins using server configuration
• Require multi-factor authentication for all administrative actions

# Example: Apache mod_rewrite rule to block external referrers on sensitive endpoints
# Add to .htaccess or Apache configuration
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} ^/employee/add [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^https://your-hrsale-domain\.com [NC]
RewriteRule .* - [F,L]