CVE-2004-2568 in ReciPants
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities in ReciPants 1.1.1 allow remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the (1) user id, (2) recipe id, (3) category id, and (4) other ID number fields.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/29/2018
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2004-2568 represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw affecting ReciPants version 1.1.1, a web-based recipe management application. This vulnerability falls under the Common Weakness Enumeration category CWE-79, which specifically addresses improper neutralization of input during web output, making it a classic example of unsafe web application coding practices that have plagued the industry for decades. The flaw exists in the application's handling of user-supplied data within various ID parameter fields, creating an attack surface that enables malicious actors to execute arbitrary scripts in the context of authenticated users' browsers.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from the application's failure to properly sanitize and validate input parameters before rendering them in web responses. When users interact with the application through URL parameters or form submissions containing user id, recipe id, category id, and other numeric identifier fields, the system processes these values without adequate filtering or encoding mechanisms. This lack of input validation creates a pathway for attackers to inject malicious JavaScript code or HTML content that gets executed when other users view the affected pages. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it affects multiple parameter types, amplifying the potential attack surface and making it more difficult for administrators to implement targeted fixes.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability poses significant risks to both user privacy and application integrity. An attacker could exploit these XSS flaws to steal session cookies, redirect users to malicious websites, or perform actions on behalf of authenticated users within the application's context. The impact extends beyond simple data theft, as successful exploitation could lead to complete account compromise, data manipulation, or even privilege escalation depending on the application's access controls. The fact that multiple ID fields are affected suggests that the vulnerability exists in core application components rather than isolated modules, indicating a systemic design flaw that requires comprehensive remediation rather than patching individual endpoints.
The mitigation strategy for this vulnerability involves implementing proper input sanitization and output encoding mechanisms throughout the application's codebase. Security practitioners should employ context-specific encoding techniques, particularly using the OWASP ESAPI library or similar frameworks that provide robust encoding functions for different output contexts such as HTML, JavaScript, and URL parameters. Additionally, implementing a Content Security Policy (CSP) header can provide an additional layer of defense against XSS attacks by restricting the sources from which scripts can be loaded. The application should also adopt a principle of least privilege for user inputs and implement proper parameter validation that rejects or sanitizes potentially malicious content before processing. Organizations should conduct regular security code reviews and vulnerability assessments to identify similar flaws in other application components, as this vulnerability demonstrates how insufficient input validation can create widespread security issues across multiple parameter types. This case study serves as a foundational example of why modern web application security must incorporate defense-in-depth strategies that address both prevention and detection of cross-site scripting attacks.