CVE-2024-2570: Employee Task Management System RCE Flaw

CVE-2024-2570 Overview

A critical Execution After Redirect (EAR) vulnerability has been identified in SourceCodester Employee Task Management System version 1.0. The vulnerability exists in the /edit-task.php file and allows remote attackers to bypass authentication and authorization controls by exploiting improper redirect handling. This flaw enables unauthorized access to protected functionality even after a redirect is issued, as the application continues to execute code following the redirect instruction.

Critical Impact

Remote attackers can bypass security controls and execute unauthorized actions on the Employee Task Management System without authentication, potentially leading to complete system compromise including data theft, modification, and deletion of task records.

Affected Products

• SourceCodester Employee Task Management System 1.0
• oretnom23 employee_task_management_system 1.0

Discovery Timeline

• 2024-03-18 - CVE-2024-2570 published to NVD
• 2025-02-20 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-2570

Vulnerability Analysis

The Execution After Redirect (EAR) vulnerability in SourceCodester Employee Task Management System stems from a fundamental web application security flaw where the application fails to properly terminate script execution after issuing an HTTP redirect. When a user attempts to access the /edit-task.php endpoint without proper authentication or authorization, the application sends a redirect response but continues processing the remaining PHP code. This allows attackers to bypass access control mechanisms by simply ignoring the redirect instruction at the HTTP client level, enabling them to interact with protected functionality.

The impact of this vulnerability is severe as it can lead to complete compromise of the task management system. Attackers can view, modify, or delete task information belonging to any user in the system. Additionally, depending on the application's architecture, this could potentially be chained with other vulnerabilities for deeper system access.

Root Cause

The root cause is improper implementation of the redirect functionality in /edit-task.php. The PHP code issues a header("Location: ...") redirect but fails to include an exit() or die() statement immediately after the redirect header. This is classified under CWE-698 (Execution After Redirect), where the application continues to execute code after issuing a redirect, allowing attackers to bypass intended access restrictions by intercepting the response before the redirect occurs or by using tools that ignore redirect instructions.

Attack Vector

The vulnerability can be exploited remotely over the network without requiring any authentication or user interaction. An attacker can directly access the /edit-task.php endpoint and intercept the HTTP response using a proxy tool such as Burp Suite, or use command-line tools like curl that can be configured to not follow redirects. By capturing the response before the redirect is processed, or by ignoring the redirect entirely, the attacker gains access to the sensitive functionality and data that should be protected.

The attack can be performed by sending a crafted HTTP request to the vulnerable endpoint:

GET /edit-task.php?id=1 HTTP/1.1
Host: vulnerable-target.com

When the server responds with a redirect header, the attacker's tool captures and ignores the redirect, allowing access to the protected content that continues to execute. Technical details and proof-of-concept information are available in the GitHub PoC Repository.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-2570

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual access patterns to /edit-task.php from unauthenticated sessions or unexpected IP addresses
• HTTP requests to the vulnerable endpoint that do not follow redirect responses
• Web server logs showing successful responses (HTTP 200) following redirect responses (HTTP 302/301) for the same endpoint
• Unauthorized modifications to task records in the database

Detection Strategies

• Implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block requests that attempt to access protected endpoints without valid session tokens
• Monitor application logs for access to /edit-task.php from users without active authentication sessions
• Deploy network intrusion detection systems to identify traffic patterns consistent with automated exploitation tools

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable detailed logging for all authentication-related endpoints including /edit-task.php
• Set up alerts for failed authentication attempts followed by successful access to protected resources
• Implement session monitoring to detect inconsistencies between authentication state and resource access

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-2570

Immediate Actions Required

• Restrict network access to the Employee Task Management System to trusted networks only until a patch is applied
• Implement additional access controls at the web server level (e.g., Apache/Nginx configuration) to require authentication for /edit-task.php
• Consider temporarily disabling the vulnerable endpoint if task editing functionality is not critical
• Review application logs for any signs of prior exploitation

Patch Information

No official vendor patch has been released for this vulnerability. The vulnerability has been publicly disclosed with the exploit details available on VulDB #257073. Organizations using this software should implement the workarounds below and consider migrating to a more actively maintained task management solution. Manual code remediation can be performed by adding proper script termination after redirect statements in the affected PHP file.

Workarounds

• Manually add exit() or die() statements immediately after any header("Location: ...") redirect calls in /edit-task.php
• Implement server-level access controls using .htaccess or Nginx configuration to require authentication before accessing the vulnerable endpoint
• Deploy a web application firewall with rules to block unauthenticated access to the task management system

# Apache .htaccess workaround to require authentication for edit-task.php
<Files "edit-task.php">
    AuthType Basic
    AuthName "Restricted Access"
    AuthUserFile /path/to/.htpasswd
    Require valid-user
</Files>