CVE-2002-1853 in MyNewsGroups
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in MyNewsGroups 0.4 and 0.4.1 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the subject of a newsgroup post, which is not properly handled by (1) myarticles.php, (2) search.php, (3) stats.php, or (4) standard.lib.php.
Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/04/2024
This cross-site scripting vulnerability exists in MyNewsGroups version 0.4 and 0.4.1 where user input from newsgroup post subjects is not properly sanitized or escaped before being rendered in web pages. The flaw affects four specific PHP scripts including myarticlesphp searchphp statsphp and standardlibphp which collectively process and display user-generated content without adequate input validation or output encoding mechanisms. The vulnerability represents a classic XSS attack vector where malicious actors can inject arbitrary javascript code or html markup into newsgroup posts that will execute in the browsers of other users who view these posts.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient data sanitization practices within the application's input handling routines. When users create newsgroup posts with subject lines containing malicious scripts, these inputs bypass proper security filters and are directly embedded into the web page output. This occurs because the affected scripts fail to implement proper HTML escaping or context-appropriate encoding before displaying user-supplied content. The vulnerability is categorized as CWE-79 "Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation" which is a fundamental weakness in web application security that allows attackers to inject malicious code into web pages viewed by other users.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant as it enables remote code execution in the context of affected users' browsers without requiring any special privileges or authentication. An attacker can craft malicious subject lines containing javascript payloads that will execute when other users browse the affected newsgroup pages. This could lead to session hijacking cookie theft, redirection to malicious websites, data exfiltration, or the execution of arbitrary commands in the victim's browser context. The vulnerability affects the core functionality of the news group application by compromising user security and potentially allowing persistent attacks against the user base.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on implementing proper input validation and output encoding mechanisms across all affected scripts. The recommended approach involves sanitizing all user inputs through HTML entity encoding before rendering them in web pages, implementing strict input validation to reject suspicious characters or patterns, and ensuring that all dynamic content is properly escaped for the target context. Security measures should include deploying web application firewalls that can detect and block XSS attempts, implementing content security policies to restrict script execution, and conducting regular security code reviews to identify similar input handling vulnerabilities. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this as a web application vulnerability exploitation technique under the T1190 "Exploit Public-Facing Application" tactic where attackers leverage insecure input handling to compromise user sessions and execute malicious code in browser contexts.