📄 Description (English)
Drupal Core Remote Code Execution Vulnerability — A remote code execution vulnerability exists within multiple subsystems of Drupal that can allow attackers to exploit multiple attack vectors on a Drupal site.
🤖 AI Executive Summary
CVE-2018-7602 is a critical remote code execution vulnerability in Drupal Core (dubbed 'Drupalgeddon 3') that affects multiple subsystems and allows attackers to exploit various attack vectors to execute arbitrary code on vulnerable Drupal sites. With a CVSS score of 9.0 and publicly available exploits, this vulnerability has been actively exploited in the wild since its disclosure in April 2018. Organizations running unpatched Drupal installations face complete system compromise, data exfiltration, and potential lateral movement within their networks. Immediate patching is essential as this vulnerability is trivially exploitable and widely targeted by automated attack tools.
📄 Description (Arabic)
🤖 AI Intelligence Analysis Analyzed: Apr 11, 2026 11:55
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia Impact Assessment
This vulnerability poses significant risk to Saudi organizations using Drupal for their web presence. Government portals (many Saudi ministries and government entities use Drupal CMS) are at high risk of defacement, data breach, and service disruption. Banking and financial institutions regulated by SAMA that use Drupal for customer-facing portals could face unauthorized access to sensitive financial data. Healthcare organizations, educational institutions, and energy sector companies (including ARAMCO and its subsidiaries) with Drupal-based web applications are vulnerable to complete system takeover. Saudi telecom providers like STC and Mobily hosting Drupal-based customer portals are also at risk. Given the prevalence of Drupal in Saudi government digital transformation initiatives (e.g., Saudi Vision 2030 portals), the attack surface is considerable.
🏢 Affected Saudi Sectors
Government
Banking
Healthcare
Energy
Telecom
Education
Retail
Media
⚖️ Saudi Risk Score (AI)
9.2
/ 10.0
🔧 Remediation Steps (English)
IMMEDIATE ACTIONS:
1. Identify all Drupal installations across the organization using asset discovery tools
2. Immediately update Drupal 7.x to version 7.59 or later
3. Immediately update Drupal 8.5.x to version 8.5.3 or later
4. Immediately update Drupal 8.4.x to version 8.4.8 or later (note: 8.4.x is end-of-life, migrate to 8.5.x+)
COMPENSATING CONTROLS (if immediate patching is not possible):
1. Place a Web Application Firewall (WAF) in front of all Drupal sites with rules to block Drupalgeddon 3 exploit patterns
2. Restrict access to Drupal administrative paths (/admin, /user, /node) to trusted IP ranges only
3. Disable unnecessary Drupal modules to reduce attack surface
4. Implement network segmentation to isolate web servers from internal networks
DETECTION RULES:
1. Monitor web server logs for suspicious POST requests to form API endpoints with unusual parameters
2. Deploy IDS/IPS signatures for CVE-2018-7602 (Snort SID: 46316, 46317)
3. Monitor for unexpected PHP process execution or shell spawning from web server processes
4. Check for indicators of compromise: new admin accounts, modified files, web shells in Drupal directories
5. Review cron jobs and scheduled tasks for unauthorized entries
POST-INCIDENT:
1. If exploitation is suspected, perform full forensic analysis of the web server
2. Rebuild compromised systems from known-good backups after patching
3. Rotate all credentials stored on or accessible from the Drupal installation
🔧 خطوات المعالجة (العربية)
الإجراءات الفورية:
1. تحديد جميع تثبيتات Drupal عبر المؤسسة باستخدام أدوات اكتشاف الأصول
2. تحديث Drupal 7.x فوراً إلى الإصدار 7.59 أو أحدث
3. تحديث Drupal 8.5.x فوراً إلى الإصدار 8.5.3 أو أحدث
4. تحديث Drupal 8.4.x فوراً إلى الإصدار 8.4.8 أو أحدث (ملاحظة: 8.4.x انتهى دعمه، يجب الترحيل إلى 8.5.x+)
الضوابط التعويضية (إذا لم يكن التحديث الفوري ممكناً):
1. وضع جدار حماية تطبيقات الويب (WAF) أمام جميع مواقع Drupal مع قواعد لحظر أنماط استغلال Drupalgeddon 3
2. تقييد الوصول إلى مسارات إدارة Drupal (/admin، /user، /node) لنطاقات IP الموثوقة فقط
3. تعطيل وحدات Drupal غير الضرورية لتقليل سطح الهجوم
4. تنفيذ تجزئة الشبكة لعزل خوادم الويب عن الشبكات الداخلية
قواعد الكشف:
1. مراقبة سجلات خادم الويب للطلبات POST المشبوهة لنقاط نهاية واجهة النماذج مع معلمات غير عادية
2. نشر توقيعات IDS/IPS لـ CVE-2018-7602 (Snort SID: 46316، 46317)
3. مراقبة تنفيذ عمليات PHP غير المتوقعة أو إنشاء shell من عمليات خادم الويب
4. التحقق من مؤشرات الاختراق: حسابات مسؤول جديدة، ملفات معدلة، web shells في مجلدات Drupal
5. مراجعة المهام المجدولة للإدخالات غير المصرح بها
ما بعد الحادث:
1. في حالة الاشتباه بالاستغلال، إجراء تحليل جنائي كامل لخادم الويب
2. إعادة بناء الأنظمة المخترقة من نسخ احتياطية معروفة بعد التحديث
3. تغيير جميع بيانات الاعتماد المخزنة على تثبيت Drupal أو التي يمكن الوصول إليها منه
📋 Regulatory Compliance Mapping
🟢 NCA ECC 2024
ECC 2-3-1 (Vulnerability Management)
ECC 2-3-4 (Patch Management)
ECC 2-5-1 (Web Application Security)
ECC 2-2-1 (Asset Management)
ECC 2-6-1 (Incident Management)
🔵 SAMA CSF
SAMA CSF 3.3.3 (Patch Management)
SAMA CSF 3.3.5 (Vulnerability Management)
SAMA CSF 3.3.7 (Web Application Security)
SAMA CSF 3.4.1 (Incident and Threat Management)
SAMA CSF 3.3.1 (Infrastructure Security)
🟡 ISO 27001:2022
A.8.8 (Management of technical vulnerabilities)
A.8.9 (Configuration management)
A.8.23 (Web filtering)
A.8.28 (Secure coding)
A.5.24 (Information security incident management planning and preparation)
🟣 PCI DSS v4.0
PCI DSS 6.3.3 (Install critical security patches within one month)
PCI DSS 6.4 (Protect public-facing web applications)
PCI DSS 11.3 (Penetration testing)
PCI DSS 6.2 (Establish a process to identify and assign risk ranking to newly discovered vulnerabilities)
🔗 References & Sources 0
No references.
📦 Affected Products / CPE 1 entries
Drupal:Core