CVE-2004-1062 in ViewCVS
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities in ViewCVS 0.9.2 allow remote attackers to inject arbitrary HTML and web script via certain error messages.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/29/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2004-1062 represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw discovered in ViewCVS version 0.9.2, a web-based interface for viewing cvs repository contents. This vulnerability falls under the CWE-79 category of Cross-Site Scripting and specifically manifests in the application's error handling mechanisms where user-supplied input is not properly sanitized before being rendered in web responses. The flaw enables remote attackers to execute malicious scripts in the context of other users' browsers through carefully crafted error messages that contain embedded HTML and JavaScript code. ViewCVS, being a tool designed to provide web access to version control system repositories, processes user input from various sources including file paths, revision numbers, and search queries, making it susceptible to injection attacks when these inputs are improperly handled during error condition processing.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs when ViewCVS encounters malformed input or encounters errors during repository operations, causing the application to display error messages that contain unsanitized user data directly in the HTTP response. Attackers can craft specific inputs that when processed by the application trigger error conditions, resulting in the injection of malicious scripts into the error message output. This allows attackers to execute arbitrary code in the victim's browser context, potentially leading to session hijacking, credential theft, or redirection to malicious websites. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it leverages legitimate error reporting mechanisms within the application, making it difficult for administrators to distinguish between normal error messages and maliciously crafted ones. The attack surface is broad as any user interaction that could potentially trigger an error condition in the application's processing pipeline could serve as an attack vector.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it can enable attackers to perform session manipulation attacks and potentially gain unauthorized access to sensitive repository information. When users encounter error messages containing malicious scripts, their browsers execute these scripts, which could steal cookies, redirect them to phishing sites, or perform actions on their behalf within the context of the ViewCVS application. This vulnerability is particularly concerning in enterprise environments where ViewCVS might be used to access sensitive source code repositories, as successful exploitation could lead to unauthorized code access, data exfiltration, or privilege escalation within the application's access controls. The vulnerability also represents a significant risk to user trust and application integrity, as users may unknowingly execute malicious code when encountering error conditions during normal application usage. Organizations relying on ViewCVS for repository access should consider this vulnerability as a critical security concern requiring immediate remediation.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2004-1062 should focus on implementing comprehensive input validation and output sanitization mechanisms throughout the ViewCVS application. The most effective approach involves ensuring that all user-supplied data is properly escaped or encoded before being included in any output, particularly in error messages and dynamic content generation. Administrators should implement proper error handling that prevents raw user input from being displayed in error messages, instead using generic error messages that do not contain potentially malicious content. The application should employ context-specific output encoding for different data types and locations within the HTML structure, following the principle of least privilege in error message generation. Additionally, organizations should consider upgrading to newer versions of ViewCVS that have addressed this vulnerability through proper input sanitization and error handling practices. Network-level protections such as web application firewalls can provide additional defense-in-depth, though they should not be relied upon as the sole mitigation strategy. The remediation efforts should also include comprehensive security testing of error handling paths to ensure that no similar vulnerabilities exist in other parts of the application's codebase.