CVE-2005-1324 in phpMyVisites
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities in index.php for phpMyVisites allow remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the (1) part, (2) per, or (3) site parameters.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/30/2017
The vulnerability described in CVE-2005-1324 represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw within the phpMyVisites web analytics application. This vulnerability affects the index.php script and specifically targets three parameter fields: part, per, and site. The issue stems from inadequate input validation and output encoding mechanisms within the application's web interface, creating an exploitable condition that allows remote attackers to inject malicious web scripts or HTML content directly into the application's response. Such vulnerabilities fall under the CWE-79 category of Cross-Site Scripting, which is classified as a fundamental web application security weakness that has been consistently identified as one of the most prevalent security flaws in web applications.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs when an attacker crafts malicious input containing script code and submits it through any of the three vulnerable parameters. When the phpMyVisites application processes these parameters without proper sanitization, the injected code becomes part of the web page response and executes in the context of the victim's browser. This allows attackers to perform various malicious activities including session hijacking, credential theft, data exfiltration, or redirection to malicious websites. The impact is particularly severe because phpMyVisites is typically used for web analytics and monitoring, meaning that attackers could potentially compromise the entire analytics infrastructure and gain access to sensitive user behavior data.
From an operational standpoint, this vulnerability creates significant risks for organizations relying on phpMyVisites for their web analytics needs. The remote nature of the attack means that adversaries can exploit this flaw from anywhere on the internet without requiring physical access to the system or local network privileges. The three vulnerable parameters suggest that attackers can target different aspects of the application's functionality, potentially allowing for more sophisticated attack vectors. The vulnerability affects the core web interface functionality, making it particularly dangerous as it could be exploited during normal usage of the analytics dashboard, potentially compromising all users who access the application.
Security practitioners should implement multiple layers of defense to mitigate this vulnerability. The primary mitigation involves input validation and output encoding of all user-supplied data, ensuring that any content passed through the part, per, and site parameters is properly sanitized before being processed or displayed. This aligns with the ATT&CK framework's defense in depth principles, particularly focusing on input validation and output encoding techniques. Organizations should also implement proper content security policies, regularly update the phpMyVisites application to patched versions, and conduct thorough security testing of web applications to identify similar vulnerabilities. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date security practices and the necessity of implementing robust web application security controls to prevent exploitation of such fundamental flaws that can compromise entire web applications and their associated data integrity.