CVE-2005-0216 in Burning Board
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in formmail.php in Woltlab Burning Board Lite 1.0.0, 1.0.1e, and possibly other versions, allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web sript and HTML via the userid parameter.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/22/2017
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2005-0216 represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw within the Woltlab Burning Board Lite forum software, specifically affecting versions 1.0.0 through 1.0.1e and potentially other iterations in the same release series. This vulnerability resides in the formmail.php component of the software, which serves as a contact form functionality for users to send messages through the forum interface. The flaw manifests when the application fails to properly sanitize user input passed through the userid parameter, creating an exploitable condition that enables malicious actors to inject arbitrary web scripts and HTML code into the forum's output. The vulnerability classification aligns with CWE-79 which specifically addresses cross-site scripting vulnerabilities, where improper input validation allows attackers to inject malicious content that executes in the context of other users' browsers.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs when an attacker crafts a malicious payload containing JavaScript or HTML code and submits it through the userid parameter of the formmail.php script. When the vulnerable application processes this input without adequate sanitization or encoding, the malicious code becomes embedded within the page's HTML output and executes in the browsers of unsuspecting users who view the affected content. This creates a persistent threat vector where the injected code can perform actions such as stealing session cookies, redirecting users to malicious sites, defacing the forum interface, or executing other malicious operations within the user's browser context. The attack requires no special privileges or authentication, making it particularly dangerous as it can be exploited by remote attackers from any location with access to the vulnerable forum.
The operational impact of CVE-2005-0216 extends beyond simple data theft or defacement, as it fundamentally compromises the security and integrity of the entire forum ecosystem. Users who interact with the vulnerable forum become potential victims of session hijacking attacks, where attackers can steal authentication tokens and impersonate legitimate users to access private forums, post malicious content, or modify user accounts. The vulnerability also enables more sophisticated attacks such as credential harvesting, where attackers can capture login information from users who may unknowingly submit forms containing the malicious code. Additionally, the compromised forum can serve as a platform for distributing malware to visitors, creating a propagation vector that extends the attack beyond the immediate forum boundaries and potentially affecting the broader network infrastructure.
Organizations and forum administrators should immediately implement multiple layers of defense to mitigate this vulnerability. The primary remediation strategy involves applying the vendor-supplied patches or upgrading to versions that have addressed this specific XSS flaw, which typically includes implementing proper input validation and output encoding mechanisms. Input sanitization techniques should be implemented to filter or escape special characters that could be used in script injection attacks, while output encoding should ensure that any user-provided content is properly escaped before being rendered in HTML contexts. Security headers such as Content Security Policy should be configured to limit script execution and prevent unauthorized code injection. Network monitoring systems should be enhanced to detect and alert on suspicious patterns in form submissions, and regular security audits should verify that all input parameters are properly validated. This vulnerability also highlights the importance of adhering to the principle of least privilege and implementing proper access controls within web applications, as outlined in the ATT&CK framework's web application attack patterns where such vulnerabilities are categorized under techniques that enable persistent access and data exfiltration through client-side exploits.