CVE-2006-2117 in Thyme
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Thyme 1.3 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the search page.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/21/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2006-2117 represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw within the Thyme 1.3 web application, specifically affecting the search page functionality. This vulnerability falls under the broader category of input validation weaknesses that have been consistently documented in cybersecurity literature as one of the most prevalent and dangerous web application security flaws. The issue stems from inadequate sanitization of user-supplied input parameters that are processed by the application's search mechanism, creating an environment where malicious actors can inject arbitrary web scripts or HTML content into the application's response.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs when an attacker submits malicious input through the search page interface, which is then reflected back to other users without proper HTML encoding or output sanitization. This allows attackers to execute malicious scripts within the context of other users' browsers, potentially leading to session hijacking, credential theft, or redirection to malicious sites. The vulnerability specifically targets the search functionality where user input is directly incorporated into the application's response without adequate security controls to prevent script injection. According to CWE standards, this represents a classic example of CWE-79, which defines "Cross-site Scripting (XSS)" as a weakness that occurs when an application includes untrusted data in a new web page without proper validation or escaping, allowing attackers to inject client-side scripts.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data theft or session manipulation, as it can enable sophisticated attack chains that leverage the trust relationship between users and the application. An attacker could craft malicious search queries that, when viewed by other users, would execute malicious code in their browsers, potentially leading to complete compromise of user sessions and sensitive data exposure. The vulnerability demonstrates how seemingly innocuous features like search functionality can become attack vectors when proper security controls are not implemented. This type of vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it can be exploited through social engineering tactics, where users might unknowingly click on links containing malicious search parameters that they believe to be legitimate.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2006-2117 should focus on implementing comprehensive input validation and output encoding mechanisms throughout the application's codebase. The most effective approaches include implementing strict input sanitization that removes or encodes potentially dangerous characters such as angle brackets, script tags, and other HTML entities before processing user input. Additionally, developers should implement proper output encoding for all dynamic content that originates from user input, ensuring that any characters that could be interpreted as HTML or script tags are properly escaped. The application should also employ Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to limit the sources from which scripts can be executed, providing an additional layer of protection against XSS attacks. According to ATT&CK framework, this vulnerability would be categorized under T1059.007 for "Command and Scripting Interpreter: JavaScript', and T1531 for 'Account Access Removal', as it enables attackers to establish persistent access through client-side attacks. Organizations should also implement regular security testing including automated scanning tools and manual penetration testing to identify similar vulnerabilities in their web applications, as XSS remains one of the top ten web application security risks according to OWASP standards.