CVE-2005-0802 in ACS Blog
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in search.asp in ACS Blog 0.8 through 1.1b allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary web script or HTML via the search parameter.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/15/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2005-0802 represents a classic cross-site scripting flaw that existed within the ACS Blog content management system version 0.8 through 1.1b. This particular vulnerability manifests in the search.asp component of the application, where user input is not properly sanitized before being rendered back to the browser. The flaw allows remote attackers to inject malicious scripts or HTML code through the search parameter, creating a persistent security risk that can be exploited without requiring any special privileges or authentication. The vulnerability specifically targets the input validation mechanisms within the search functionality, where the application fails to adequately filter or escape user-supplied data before incorporating it into dynamically generated web content.
This XSS vulnerability operates under the Common Weakness Enumeration classification as CWE-79, which defines improper neutralization of input during web page generation as a fundamental weakness in web application security. The attack vector exploits the application's failure to implement proper output encoding or sanitization when processing search queries, allowing malicious actors to inject script code that executes in the context of other users' browsers. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it affects the core search functionality, which is typically accessed by numerous users and often integrated into the application's main navigation flow. When a victim visits a page containing the malicious search query or when the search results page displays the injected content, the embedded scripts execute automatically in the victim's browser environment, potentially compromising user sessions or redirecting them to malicious sites.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it enables attackers to perform session hijacking, steal cookies, redirect users to phishing sites, or even modify the content displayed to other users. The persistent nature of the vulnerability means that once exploited, malicious content can affect multiple users who access the affected search results or pages containing the injected scripts. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability to create a wide range of malicious payloads including phishing attempts, defacement of the blog content, or the establishment of backdoors through more sophisticated attack chains. The vulnerability's presence in multiple versions of the ACS Blog system indicates a widespread exposure that could affect numerous websites running these older versions, particularly in environments where security updates were not promptly applied.
Security mitigations for this vulnerability should focus on implementing proper input validation and output encoding mechanisms within the search.asp component. The most effective defense involves sanitizing all user input through strict validation and encoding before rendering any content back to the browser. Organizations should implement Content Security Policy headers to limit script execution and establish proper input sanitization routines that escape special characters commonly used in XSS attacks. The remediation process requires updating the search.asp script to properly encode output using appropriate HTML entity encoding functions and implementing comprehensive input validation that rejects or filters potentially dangerous characters. Additionally, regular security audits and vulnerability assessments should be conducted to identify similar weaknesses in other components of the application, as this vulnerability demonstrates a pattern of insufficient input validation that may exist elsewhere in the codebase. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of keeping web applications updated with the latest security patches and implementing automated security monitoring to detect and respond to exploitation attempts.