CVE-2006-3909 in WWWthreads
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in calendar.php in WWWthreads allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the week parameter.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/01/2018
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2006-3909 represents a classic cross-site scripting flaw within the WWWthreads web application's calendar.php component. This security weakness specifically manifests when the application fails to properly sanitize user input received through the week parameter, creating an avenue for malicious actors to execute arbitrary web scripts or HTML code within the context of other users' browsers. The vulnerability falls under the broader category of CWE-79 - Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation, which is a fundamental web application security concern that has persisted across numerous applications and frameworks over many years.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs when an attacker crafts a malicious payload containing script code and passes it through the week parameter of the calendar.php script. When the vulnerable application processes this input and incorporates it directly into the HTML output without proper sanitization or encoding, the embedded scripts execute in the victim's browser context. This type of attack can be particularly dangerous as it allows attackers to hijack user sessions, steal sensitive information, deface web pages, or redirect users to malicious sites. The attack vector is classified as a reflected XSS vulnerability since the malicious input is immediately reflected back to the user without being stored on the server.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it can enable attackers to perform a wide range of malicious activities within the compromised user environment. Attackers can leverage this weakness to steal cookies, session tokens, or other sensitive data that users might have stored in their browsers. The vulnerability also poses risks to the overall integrity of the web application, as it can be used to inject malicious content that affects all users interacting with the calendar functionality. Additionally, this type of vulnerability can serve as a stepping stone for more sophisticated attacks, potentially allowing adversaries to escalate privileges or gain unauthorized access to additional system resources.
Security practitioners should implement comprehensive input validation and output encoding mechanisms to address this vulnerability effectively. The recommended mitigation strategies include implementing strict input sanitization routines that filter or escape special characters in user-supplied data before processing. Additionally, developers should employ proper output encoding techniques when rendering user input within HTML contexts, ensuring that any potentially malicious content is treated as data rather than executable code. The implementation of Content Security Policy headers can also provide an additional layer of protection against XSS attacks by restricting the sources from which scripts can be loaded and executed within the browser. This vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of following secure coding practices and adhering to established security frameworks such as those outlined in the OWASP Top Ten and NIST Cybersecurity Framework, which emphasize the need for robust input validation and output encoding as fundamental security controls.