CVE-2006-4355 in Easylinks Module
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Drupal Easylinks Module (easylinks.module) 4.7 before 1.5.2.1 2006/08/19 12:02:27 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via unspecified vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/02/2018
The CVE-2006-4355 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw discovered in the Drupal Easylinks Module version 4.7 prior to 1.5.2.1, which was published on August 19, 2006. This vulnerability falls under the CWE-79 category of Cross-Site Scripting, specifically representing a weakness in input validation and output encoding within web applications. The Easylinks Module, designed to facilitate the creation of links within Drupal content management systems, contained a flaw that allowed malicious actors to inject arbitrary web scripts or HTML code through unspecified vectors, potentially compromising user sessions and data integrity.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from insufficient sanitization of user-supplied input data within the easylinks.module component. When users interacted with the module's functionality, particularly when creating or editing links, the application failed to properly validate and escape special characters in the input fields. This omission created an opportunity for attackers to inject malicious scripts that would execute in the context of other users' browsers when they viewed the affected content. The vulnerability was particularly concerning because it affected the core Drupal platform's functionality for managing links, which was commonly used across various websites and applications, making it a widespread potential attack vector.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script injection, as it could enable attackers to perform session hijacking, steal sensitive information, manipulate content, or redirect users to malicious websites. Given that Drupal was widely adopted for content management and the Easylinks module was commonly used for creating navigational elements, the potential attack surface was substantial. Users with administrative privileges could be particularly targeted, as successful exploitation might lead to complete system compromise. The vulnerability also aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566.001 for Initial Access through Web Shell deployment and could facilitate credential theft through session manipulation.
Organizations utilizing vulnerable Drupal installations needed to implement immediate mitigations including updating to the patched version 1.5.2.1 or later, which addressed the input validation issues. Additional protective measures included implementing proper output encoding for all user-generated content, deploying web application firewalls, and establishing robust input validation procedures. The vulnerability highlighted the importance of secure coding practices in content management systems and demonstrated how seemingly minor functionality flaws could create significant security risks. Security professionals should have monitored for exploitation attempts through network traffic analysis and implemented proper security controls as recommended by the Drupal security team and industry best practices for web application security.