CVE-2006-0246 in Download Tracker
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in down.pl in Widexl Download Tracker 1.06 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the ID parameter.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/02/2017
The CVE-2006-0246 vulnerability represents a classic cross-site scripting flaw discovered in the Widexl Download Tracker version 1.06 web application. This vulnerability exists within the down.pl script which handles download tracking functionality, making it a critical security weakness that could be exploited by remote attackers without any authentication requirements. The vulnerability specifically manifests when the application fails to properly sanitize user input passed through the ID parameter, creating an opening for malicious code injection that can persist across user sessions.
This vulnerability falls under the CWE-79 category of Cross-Site Scripting, which is one of the most prevalent and dangerous web application security flaws identified by the CWE organization. The flaw operates by allowing attackers to inject malicious scripts into the web application's response, which then executes in the context of other users' browsers when they access the affected page. The ID parameter serves as the primary attack vector since it likely represents a download identifier or tracking reference that gets rendered back to users without proper input validation or output encoding.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it can enable attackers to perform a wide range of malicious activities including session hijacking, credential theft, defacement of web content, and redirection to malicious sites. When users encounter the injected content, their browsers execute the malicious scripts with the privileges of the targeted user, potentially compromising sensitive information or allowing full control over user sessions. The persistent nature of this vulnerability means that once exploited, the malicious code continues to affect users until the application is patched or the vulnerable parameter is properly sanitized.
From an attacker's perspective, this vulnerability represents a low-effort, high-impact entry point that aligns with several tactics described in the MITRE ATT&CK framework under the initial access and persistence domains. The attack chain typically begins with reconnaissance to identify the vulnerable application, followed by crafting malicious payloads targeting the ID parameter, and finally executing the injection to achieve the desired malicious outcomes. Organizations running Widexl Download Tracker 1.06 should implement immediate mitigations including input validation, output encoding, and proper parameter sanitization to prevent the exploitation of this vulnerability. The remediation approach should focus on implementing proper HTML escaping for all dynamic content, validating input parameters against expected formats, and ensuring that all user-supplied data is treated as untrusted until properly validated and sanitized.