CVE-2006-2096 in Land Down Under
Summary
by MITRE
plug.php in Land Down Under (LDU) 802 and earlier allows remote attackers to obtain sensitive information via an invalid (1) month or (2) year parameter, which reveals the path in an error message.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/07/2017
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2006-2096 affects Land Down Under version 802 and earlier, specifically targeting the plug.php script within the application's codebase. This represents a classic information disclosure weakness that stems from improper error handling mechanisms. The vulnerability manifests when the application processes invalid month or year parameters, causing it to generate error messages that inadvertently expose critical system information including file paths and directory structures. Such sensitive data exposure occurs through the application's failure to sanitize error outputs before presenting them to remote attackers.
From a technical perspective, this vulnerability demonstrates characteristics consistent with CWE-209, which addresses the exposure of sensitive information through error messages. The flaw operates by accepting malformed input parameters and subsequently failing to properly validate or sanitize these inputs before processing them within the application's error handling routines. When invalid month or year values are submitted, the system generates error messages that contain the full file path to the plug.php script, effectively providing attackers with detailed system architecture information. This type of path disclosure represents a fundamental security misconfiguration that violates the principle of least privilege and information hiding.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple information gathering, as it provides attackers with crucial reconnaissance data that can be leveraged for subsequent exploitation attempts. The exposed file paths enable adversaries to understand the application's directory structure and potentially identify other vulnerable components within the system. This information disclosure vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1212, which covers the exploitation of information disclosure flaws to gather system information for further attack planning. The remote nature of the vulnerability means that attackers can exploit it without requiring local system access or authentication credentials, making it particularly dangerous for web applications.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on implementing proper input validation and error handling procedures throughout the application code. The most effective approach involves sanitizing all user inputs and ensuring that error messages do not contain system-specific information such as file paths or internal directory structures. Organizations should implement comprehensive error handling that generates generic error messages regardless of the input received, while logging detailed technical information securely for administrative purposes only. Additionally, regular security code reviews should be conducted to identify and address similar input validation weaknesses that could potentially lead to information disclosure vulnerabilities. The remediation process should also include implementing proper access controls and ensuring that the application's error handling mechanisms do not inadvertently expose sensitive system information through any user-facing interfaces or error reporting mechanisms.