Rails provides the ability to apply before_filter(s) which run prior to rendering content to the user. This is helpful when restricting access to content based on the user's role. These filters can be skipped on certain actions or controllers and entirely if certain conditions are met. In this case, the before_filter is being skipped if the admin_id param is equal to 1.

        
        class AdminController < ApplicationController
        
          before_filter :administrative, :if => :admin_param

          ...

          def admin_param
            params[:id] == '1'
          end
        
        

Failure to Restrict URL Access - ATTACK

Request the following URL: /railsgoat/admin/1/dashboard and have fun :-)

Failure to Restrict URL Access - SOLUTION

The code is already available to restrict access to the admin controller by role within app/controllers/application_controller.rb. The additional condition that if the admin_id param equals 1 means the filter can be circumvented by an attacker. The way to fix this issue is to remove the conditional and enforce the filter on all access requests to the admin dashboard as follows:

        
        class AdminController < ApplicationController
        
          before_filter :administrative