CVE-2003-1231 in ECW-Shop
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in index.php in ECW-Shop 5.5 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the cat parameter.
Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/16/2018
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2003-1231 represents a classic cross-site scripting flaw within the ECW-Shop 5.5 e-commerce platform, specifically affecting the index.php script. This type of vulnerability falls under the broader category of insecure input handling and represents a critical security weakness that enables malicious actors to execute arbitrary code within the context of a victim's browser session. The flaw manifests when the application fails to properly sanitize or validate user-supplied input parameters, creating an opening for attackers to inject malicious scripts that can be executed by other users who access the affected page.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability occurs through the improper handling of the cat parameter in the index.php script, which serves as the primary attack vector. When users navigate to the shop's category pages, the cat parameter is directly incorporated into the page output without adequate sanitization or encoding measures. This allows an attacker to submit malicious input containing javascript code or html tags through the cat parameter, which gets rendered in the browser of any user who views the affected page. The vulnerability is classified as reflected XSS according to CWE-79, where the malicious script is reflected off the web server back to the user's browser, making it particularly dangerous as it can be delivered through various attack vectors including email links, malicious websites, or social engineering campaigns.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script injection, as it can be leveraged to perform various malicious activities that compromise user security and data integrity. Attackers can exploit this flaw to steal session cookies, redirect users to phishing sites, deface the shop's web pages, or even execute more sophisticated attacks such as credential theft or privilege escalation within the context of the vulnerable application. The reflected nature of the vulnerability means that each attack must be individually crafted and delivered to specific targets, but the low barrier to entry and high potential for damage makes it particularly attractive to threat actors. This vulnerability directly impacts the principle of least privilege and can undermine the trust relationship between the e-commerce platform and its users, potentially leading to significant financial losses and reputational damage.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on implementing proper input validation and output encoding techniques throughout the application's codebase. The most effective approach involves sanitizing all user-supplied input parameters, including the cat parameter in this case, by implementing strict validation rules that reject or escape potentially dangerous characters and sequences. The implementation should follow secure coding practices such as those outlined in the OWASP Top Ten and the CWE guidelines for preventing XSS vulnerabilities. Additionally, developers should implement proper output encoding when rendering user data in web pages, ensuring that any potentially malicious content is treated as data rather than executable code. The use of Content Security Policy headers can provide an additional layer of protection by restricting the sources from which scripts can be loaded, while also helping to prevent successful exploitation of XSS vulnerabilities even if other defenses fail. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls and regular security assessments to identify and remediate similar vulnerabilities across their entire application portfolio.