CVE-2004-1875 in cPanel
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities in cPanel 9.1.0-R85 allow remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the (1) email parameter to testfile.html, (2) file parameter to erredit.html, (3) dns parameter to dnslook.html, (4) account parameter to ignorelist.html, (5) account parameter to showlog.html, (6) db parameter to repairdb.html, (7) login parameter to doaddftp.html (8) account parameter to editmsg.htm, or (9) ip parameter to del.html. NOTE: the dnslook.html vector was later reported to exist in cPanel 10.
If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/21/2025
The vulnerability described in CVE-2004-1875 represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw affecting cPanel version 9.1.0-R85 and subsequently confirmed in version 10. This vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and sanitization within multiple administrative scripts, creating multiple attack vectors that allow remote attackers to inject malicious web scripts or HTML content directly into the application's response. The flaw specifically manifests in nine distinct file processing endpoints including testfile.html, erredit.html, dnslook.html, ignorelist.html, showlog.html, repairdb.html, doaddftp.html, editmsg.htm, and del.html, each representing a potential entry point for malicious payload injection.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability follows the classic XSS attack pattern where user-supplied parameters are directly incorporated into web responses without proper sanitization or encoding. When an attacker submits malicious input through any of the identified parameters such as email, file, dns, account, db, login, or ip, the cPanel application processes these inputs and reflects them back to the victim's browser without adequate security measures. This creates a persistent XSS condition where the malicious script executes in the context of the victim's session, potentially compromising user credentials, session data, or enabling further attacks.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant as it allows attackers to exploit the administrative interface of cPanel systems, which typically contain sensitive configuration data, user account information, and system management capabilities. Attackers could potentially steal administrative sessions, modify user accounts, access email configurations, manipulate database settings, or gain unauthorized access to system resources. The widespread nature of cPanel installations across hosting environments means that successful exploitation could affect numerous web hosting providers and their customers simultaneously.
This vulnerability maps directly to CWE-79 which defines cross-site scripting as a weakness where untrusted data is incorporated into web pages without proper validation or encoding. The attack vectors align with the ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for command and scripting interpreter and T1566 for credential access through phishing or session hijacking. The multiple entry points indicate a systemic design flaw in input handling rather than isolated incidents, suggesting that the application's security model failed to implement consistent sanitization across its administrative interface components. Organizations should implement comprehensive input validation, output encoding, and proper session management as mitigation strategies to prevent such vulnerabilities from being exploited in production environments.