CVE-2004-2742 in Crystal Enterprise
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the report viewer in Crystal Enterprise 8.5, 9, and 10 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via script in the URL to a report (RPT) file.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/30/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2004-2742 represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw within the Crystal Enterprise reporting platform versions 8.5, 9, and 10. This security weakness resides in the report viewer component that processes report files with the .RPT extension, creating an avenue for malicious actors to execute arbitrary web scripts or HTML code within the context of a victim's browser session. The vulnerability specifically manifests when the application fails to properly sanitize user-supplied input that is subsequently rendered in the report viewer interface, allowing attackers to manipulate URL parameters containing script code that gets executed in the victim's browser.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through the manipulation of URL parameters that reference report files, where attackers can inject malicious script code that gets processed and displayed within the report viewer. This flaw falls under the CWE-79 category of Cross-Site Scripting, specifically representing a stored or reflected XSS vulnerability depending on how the input is processed and stored within the application. The attack vector leverages the application's trust in user-provided data without adequate validation or sanitization, enabling the execution of malicious code within the security context of the authenticated user.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it can enable attackers to steal session cookies, perform unauthorized actions on behalf of users, redirect victims to malicious websites, or harvest sensitive information from the application's interface. In enterprise environments utilizing Crystal Enterprise, this vulnerability poses significant risks to data confidentiality and integrity, as authenticated users may unknowingly execute malicious payloads that could lead to privilege escalation or data exfiltration. The vulnerability affects organizations that rely on Crystal Enterprise for business intelligence and reporting, potentially exposing sensitive corporate data to unauthorized access.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2004-2742 should focus on implementing proper input validation and output encoding mechanisms within the report viewer component. Organizations should ensure that all user-supplied input is sanitized before processing and that any dynamic content rendered in the browser is properly escaped to prevent script execution. The implementation of Content Security Policy headers can provide additional protection against script injection attacks, while regular security updates and patches from SAP should be applied immediately upon availability. Network segmentation and monitoring of suspicious URL patterns can also help detect and prevent exploitation attempts, aligning with defensive techniques outlined in the MITRE ATT&CK framework under the T1566 category of Phishing and T1059 for Command and Scripting Interpreter.