Surprising Security Breach: Unauthorized Editing of MIT College Applications

In summary, the speaker was filling out their college application for MIT when they timed out and returned to the site, only to find themselves in the editing area for a student in California without entering a username or password. They expressed surprise and concern for the security of their application and questioned the possibility of other similar problems. Another person suggested it may be a session variable mixup and recommended reporting it to the server admin.
  • #1
Tom McCurdy
1,020
1
I was working on filling out my college application for MIT when I had timed out... so I went back to the site and hit undergrad admissions... and volla without typing in a username or password I was in the editing area for a student in california I have never met. How is it possible that I was able to not only view some random person applicaton but I also had editing capabilities (although I did not touch his application in anyway). It really surprised me to find MIT to have such an error-- it also made me worried for security purposes about my application.
 
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  • #2
uh oh. Sounds like a session variable mixup. I am surprised that happened on MIT's site.
 
  • #3
lol

if this happened to me what do you think the odds are of other problems similar in nature
 
  • #4
Thats bad :) especially for an IT depts site... Sounds like that server needs some love and care!...

I wonder how that could happen... Unless you were bothing coming in from the same IP address (behind some NAT device) and either someone was MITM attacking and messed up or the NAT device, Port allocation table was messed around with/mess up...

Strange how you could get a Someone elses session

Did you report that to the server admin?
 

1. What exactly happened in the MIT security breach?

The MIT security breach involved unauthorized editing of college applications for the university. It was discovered that an individual had accessed and altered the applications of several students without their knowledge or consent.

2. How did the unauthorized party gain access to the applications?

The exact method of how the unauthorized party gained access to the applications is still under investigation. However, it is believed that they exploited a vulnerability in the system or obtained login credentials through phishing or social engineering tactics.

3. Were any personal or sensitive information compromised in the breach?

At this time, it is not believed that any personal or sensitive information was compromised in the breach. The unauthorized party only edited the applications and did not appear to have accessed any other data or documents.

4. How many students were affected by the breach?

As of now, it is estimated that the applications of around 40 students were affected by the breach. However, this number may change as the investigation continues.

5. What steps is MIT taking to address the security breach and prevent future incidents?

MIT has taken immediate action to secure their system and prevent further unauthorized access. They are also working closely with law enforcement and conducting a thorough investigation to identify the individual responsible. In the future, MIT will also be implementing additional security measures and protocols to prevent similar incidents from occurring.

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