CVE-2006-0069 in Chipmunk Guestbook
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in addentry.php in Chipmunk Guestbook 1.4 and earlier allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the homepage parameter.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/04/2017
The CVE-2006-0069 vulnerability represents a classic cross-site scripting flaw that affected Chipmunk Guestbook version 1.4 and earlier systems. This vulnerability resides within the addentry.php script which processes guestbook entries and fails to properly sanitize user input before rendering it in web responses. The specific weakness occurs when the homepage parameter is processed without adequate validation or encoding mechanisms, allowing malicious actors to inject arbitrary web scripts or HTML content that executes in the context of other users' browsers.
This vulnerability operates under the well-established CWE-79 classification for Cross-Site Scripting, specifically categorized as a weakness in input handling where user-supplied data is directly incorporated into web page output without proper sanitization. The attack vector is particularly concerning as it enables remote code execution within the browser context of unsuspecting users who visit the compromised guestbook page. The vulnerability demonstrates a fundamental failure in output encoding and input validation practices that have been widely recognized as critical security gaps in web applications since the early days of internet security.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script injection, as it can enable attackers to perform session hijacking, steal cookies, redirect users to malicious sites, or even execute more sophisticated attacks through the compromised guestbook interface. When an attacker successfully injects malicious code through the homepage parameter, any user who views the guestbook page becomes a potential victim of the payload execution. This creates a chain reaction where the vulnerability can be leveraged to propagate attacks across multiple users and potentially establish persistent access points within the application's user base.
Security professionals should note that this vulnerability aligns with several ATT&CK techniques including T1531 for Establishing Persistence and T1059 for Command and Scripting Interpreter usage. The remediation strategy must focus on implementing proper input validation and output encoding mechanisms throughout the application. Organizations should ensure that all user-supplied input is properly sanitized using established encoding techniques such as HTML entity encoding for output contexts. The vulnerability highlights the critical importance of defense-in-depth approaches to web application security, where multiple layers of protection including input validation, output encoding, and secure coding practices must be implemented to prevent such attacks from succeeding.
The remediation process should involve upgrading to Chipmunk Guestbook versions that address this vulnerability through proper input sanitization and output encoding. Additionally, implementing a comprehensive web application firewall policy that monitors for suspicious input patterns and establishes proper content security policies can provide additional protection layers. Security teams should also conduct regular vulnerability assessments and code reviews to identify similar input handling weaknesses that may exist in other application components, as this type of vulnerability has been consistently observed across numerous web applications throughout the security landscape.