CVE-2005-1584 in Quick.Forum
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in index.php for Quick.Forum 2.1.6 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the topic field in a NewTopic action.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/08/2018
The vulnerability described in CVE-2005-1584 represents a classic cross-site scripting flaw within the Quick.Forum 2.1.6 web application. This security weakness specifically targets the index.php script and manifests when users engage in the NewTopic action, where the topic field becomes an attack vector for malicious input. The flaw enables remote attackers to inject arbitrary web scripts or HTML content directly into the forum's user interface, creating a persistent security risk that affects all users interacting with the vulnerable platform. This type of vulnerability fundamentally undermines the integrity of web application data handling and user experience.
The technical implementation of this XSS vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and output sanitization within the Quick.Forum application's topic field processing mechanism. When users submit new topics through the NewTopic action, the application fails to properly sanitize or escape user-supplied input before rendering it back to other users viewing the forum. This lack of proper input filtering creates an environment where malicious actors can embed JavaScript code or HTML tags that execute in the browsers of other forum participants. The vulnerability operates at the application layer and requires no special privileges to exploit, making it particularly dangerous as it can be leveraged by anyone with access to the forum's posting functionality.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data corruption or display manipulation. When successfully exploited, the XSS flaw allows attackers to hijack user sessions, steal cookies, redirect users to malicious websites, or even execute unauthorized actions on behalf of victims. This represents a significant threat to user privacy and application security, as the malicious scripts can access sensitive information stored in browser memory, manipulate forum content, or establish persistent backdoors through session hijacking techniques. The vulnerability particularly affects forum administrators and regular users who may unknowingly execute malicious code when viewing compromised topic entries, creating a chain reaction of potential security breaches.
Organizations and system administrators should implement multiple layers of defense to mitigate this vulnerability, beginning with immediate patching of the Quick.Forum 2.1.6 application to the latest available version that addresses this XSS flaw. Input validation and output encoding should be implemented at the application level to sanitize all user-supplied data before processing or display. The implementation of Content Security Policy headers and proper HTTPOnly flags for session cookies can provide additional protection against exploitation. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-79 which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws in web applications and corresponds to techniques documented in the ATT&CK framework under T1059.007 for script injection and T1566 for social engineering through malicious content delivery, emphasizing the need for comprehensive web application security controls and regular vulnerability assessments to prevent similar issues in modern web platforms.