CVE-2006-1696 in Gallery
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Gallery before 1.5.3 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via unknown attack vectors.
Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/17/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2006-1696 represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw within the Gallery web application framework prior to version 1.5.3. This vulnerability falls under the CWE-79 category of Cross-Site Scripting, which is a fundamental web application security weakness that allows attackers to inject malicious scripts into web pages viewed by other users. The Gallery application, which serves as a popular web-based photo gallery system, was found to be susceptible to this type of attack through unspecified attack vectors that could be exploited by remote adversaries without requiring any local privileges or authentication.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and output encoding mechanisms within the Gallery application's codebase. When users interact with the application, particularly through forms, parameters, or user-generated content submission points, the system fails to properly sanitize or escape user-supplied data before rendering it in web responses. This allows malicious actors to inject HTML tags, JavaScript code, or other malicious payloads that execute in the context of other users' browsers. The unspecified attack vectors suggest that multiple entry points within the application could be exploited, potentially including user profile fields, comment sections, search functionality, or administrative interfaces.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data theft or defacement, as it provides attackers with the capability to establish persistent sessions, steal cookies, redirect users to malicious sites, or perform actions on behalf of authenticated users. This makes the vulnerability particularly dangerous in environments where Gallery applications host sensitive user data or are used in corporate or institutional settings. The remote exploitation aspect means that attackers can leverage this vulnerability from anywhere on the internet, making it a significant threat to any organization running affected versions of the Gallery application. The lack of specific details about the attack vectors in the original CVE description indicates that the vulnerability may have existed across multiple components of the application, potentially affecting various user interaction points.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should immediately upgrade to Gallery version 1.5.3 or later, which contains the necessary patches to address the XSS flaws. Security administrators should also implement comprehensive input validation measures, including the use of Content Security Policy headers, proper HTML escaping for all user-generated content, and regular security audits of web applications. The remediation process should include thorough testing of the patched application to ensure that the XSS vulnerabilities have been fully resolved without introducing new issues. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing web application firewalls as an additional layer of protection and establish security awareness training for developers to prevent similar vulnerabilities in custom web applications. This vulnerability highlights the importance of maintaining up-to-date software versions and proper security coding practices as outlined in the OWASP Top Ten and MITRE ATT&CK framework for web application security.