CVE-2006-0573 in cPanel
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilies in cPanel 10 and earlier allow remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the (1) email parameter to (a) editquota.html or (b) dodelpop.html; (2) showtree parameter to (c) diskusage.html; or the (3) mon, (4) year, (5) target, or (6) domain parameter to (d) stats/detailbw.html.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/18/2018
The CVE-2006-0573 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw affecting cPanel versions 10 and earlier, demonstrating a fundamental failure in input validation and output sanitization within web application security controls. This vulnerability exists within the administrative interface of cPanel, a widely used web hosting control panel that provides system administrators with tools to manage hosting accounts, email, databases, and other server components. The flaw specifically targets several key administrative pages that process user input without adequate sanitization, creating persistent security risks for hosting environments that rely on this software.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves multiple attack vectors that exploit insufficient validation of user-supplied parameters across different administrative scripts. Attackers can manipulate the email parameter in editquota.html and dodelpop.html scripts to inject malicious javascript code or html content that executes in the context of authenticated users' browsers. Additionally, the showtree parameter in diskusage.html and multiple parameters including mon, year, target, and domain in stats/detailbw.html provide further attack surfaces where malicious input can be processed without proper sanitization. These parameters typically handle data related to email account management, disk usage reporting, and bandwidth statistics, making them particularly valuable targets for attackers seeking to compromise administrative sessions.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script injection, as it enables attackers to potentially steal session cookies, hijack administrative privileges, and execute unauthorized actions within the hosting environment. When authenticated users navigate to affected pages, the injected malicious code executes in their browser context, potentially allowing attackers to access sensitive system information, modify account settings, or even gain complete control over hosting accounts. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it affects administrative interfaces where users typically have elevated privileges, making the potential damage significantly greater than standard user-facing XSS flaws. This type of vulnerability directly violates security principles outlined in CWE-79 - Cross-site Scripting and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.007 - Command and Scripting Interpreter: JavaScript, demonstrating how attackers can leverage web application flaws to execute malicious code in victim browsers.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate patching of affected cPanel installations to versions that properly sanitize all user input parameters. Organizations should implement comprehensive input validation mechanisms that filter or escape special characters in all parameters before processing, particularly those used in administrative interfaces. Web application firewalls should be configured to monitor for suspicious parameter patterns that might indicate XSS attempts, while regular security audits should verify that all input handling follows secure coding practices. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of principle of least privilege in administrative interfaces, where input validation should be implemented at multiple layers of the application architecture to prevent exploitation even if one validation layer fails. Organizations should also consider implementing Content Security Policy headers to limit the execution of inline scripts and reduce the impact of successful XSS attacks, as recommended by OWASP security guidelines and aligned with ATT&CK mitigations for web application vulnerabilities.