CVE-2005-1352 in ad.cgi
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the ad.cgi script allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the argument.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/05/2021
The CVE-2005-1352 vulnerability represents a classic cross-site scripting flaw in the ad.cgi web script that enables remote attackers to execute malicious code within the context of a victim's browser. This type of vulnerability falls under the broader category of web application security weaknesses that have been systematically catalogued by the Common Weakness Enumeration project as CWE-79, which specifically addresses "Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')". The vulnerability exists within the ad.cgi script's handling of user-supplied input parameters, where the script fails to properly sanitize or validate data received through HTTP request arguments before incorporating them into dynamic web content.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs when an attacker crafts a malicious URL containing specially formatted script code within the argument parameters passed to the ad.cgi script. When a victim's browser requests this malformed URL, the web application processes the unvalidated input and embeds the malicious script directly into the HTML response sent to the user. This injection point represents a fundamental failure in input validation and output encoding practices that should be implemented at the application level to prevent such cross-site scripting scenarios. The vulnerability demonstrates a lack of proper security controls in the web application's data flow processing, specifically in how it handles user-provided data that should never be blindly trusted or reflected back to users without adequate sanitization.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script injection, as it provides attackers with the capability to perform various malicious activities within the victim's browser session. Attackers can leverage this weakness to steal session cookies, redirect users to malicious websites, deface web pages, or even perform actions on behalf of authenticated users if the application relies on cookie-based authentication. The attack vector is particularly dangerous because it requires no privileged access or complex exploitation techniques, making it accessible to attackers with basic web security knowledge. According to the MITRE ATT&CK framework, this vulnerability maps to the technique T1059.001 for "Command and Scripting Interpreter: JavaScript" and T1531 for "Account Access Removal", as it enables attackers to execute JavaScript code in the victim's browser context and potentially compromise user sessions.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2005-1352 should focus on implementing comprehensive input validation and output encoding mechanisms within the web application. The most effective approach involves sanitizing all user-supplied input data by removing or encoding potentially dangerous characters such as angle brackets, script tags, and JavaScript event handlers before processing or displaying the data. Additionally, implementing proper content security policies and using secure coding practices that enforce strict input validation can prevent the vulnerability from being exploited. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls that can detect and block malicious script injection attempts, while maintaining regular security assessments to identify and remediate similar weaknesses in other application components. The vulnerability underscores the critical importance of following secure coding guidelines and implementing defense-in-depth strategies that protect against common web application threats through multiple layers of security controls.