TITLE:
archilles Newsworld "data" Exposure of Sensitive Information

SECUNIA ADVISORY ID:
SA17310

VERIFY ADVISORY:
http://secunia.com/advisories/17310/

CRITICAL:
Moderately critical

IMPACT:
Security Bypass, Exposure of system information, Exposure of
sensitive information

WHERE:
>From remote

SOFTWARE:
archilles Newsworld 1.x
http://secunia.com/product/5983/

DESCRIPTION:
Christoph "Chb" Burchert has discovered a security issue in archilles
Newsworld, which can be exploited by malicious people to disclose
sensitive information.

The problem is that user credentials and session information are
stored in the "data" directory inside the web root. This can be
exploited to disclose usernames, encrypted passwords, and session
information.

Successful exploitation requires that support for ".htaccess" files
is disabled.

The security issue has been confirmed in version 1.3.2 and has also
been reported in versions 1.3.1 and 1.5.0-rc1. Other versions may
also be affected.

SOLUTION:
Enable support for ".htaccess" files.

Move the "data" directory out of the web root.

PROVIDED AND/OR DISCOVERED BY:
Christoph "Chb" Burchert

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