CVE-2006-4646 in Drupal Pathauto Module
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the Drupal 4.7 Pathauto module before pathauto_node.inc 1.17.2.1 and the Drupal 4.6 Pathauto module before pathauto_node.inc 1.14.2.1 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via unspecified vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/22/2017
The vulnerability described in CVE-2006-4646 represents a classic cross-site scripting flaw that affected the Pathauto module in Drupal content management systems. This vulnerability specifically targeted versions of the Pathauto module prior to 1.17.2.1 for Drupal 4.7 and 1.14.2.1 for Drupal 4.6, indicating a widespread issue that impacted multiple Drupal versions. The flaw was classified under CWE-79, which specifically addresses cross-site scripting vulnerabilities, making it a critical security concern for web applications that relied on Drupal's content management capabilities.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stemmed from inadequate input sanitization within the pathauto_node.inc file, which is responsible for generating automatic URL aliases for Drupal nodes. Attackers could exploit this weakness by crafting malicious input that would be processed and rendered without proper validation or escaping mechanisms. The unspecified vectors suggest that the vulnerability could be triggered through various user input points within the module's functionality, potentially including node titles, content fields, or other data that the Pathauto module would process to generate URL paths. This lack of specific vector identification indicates the vulnerability was likely present in multiple processing paths within the module's codebase.
The operational impact of this vulnerability was significant for organizations running affected Drupal installations, as it provided remote attackers with the ability to inject arbitrary web script or HTML code into web pages viewed by other users. This capability enabled attackers to perform various malicious activities including session hijacking, defacement of web content, data theft, and redirection to malicious sites. The vulnerability essentially allowed attackers to execute code within the context of other users' browsers, potentially compromising user sessions and enabling further attacks within the application environment. Given that Drupal was widely used for enterprise and government websites, the potential for widespread impact was considerable.
The attack surface for this vulnerability extended beyond simple script injection to include potential privilege escalation and data manipulation scenarios. When combined with other vulnerabilities or used in conjunction with social engineering techniques, attackers could leverage this XSS flaw to gain unauthorized access to sensitive information or modify content in ways that could undermine the integrity of the entire web application. The vulnerability's presence in the Pathauto module was particularly concerning because URL alias generation is a core functionality that affects how content is accessed and displayed throughout the site, making the attack vectors potentially more pervasive than initially apparent.
Organizations should have implemented immediate mitigations including updating to the patched versions of the Pathauto module, which were specifically released to address this vulnerability. Additionally, implementing proper input validation and output encoding mechanisms would have provided defense-in-depth measures against similar issues. Security practitioners should have also considered deploying web application firewalls and content security policies to prevent exploitation of this and related XSS vulnerabilities. The incident highlighted the importance of regular security updates and proper input sanitization practices within CMS platforms, emphasizing that even seemingly benign modules like URL alias generators could contain critical security flaws that required careful attention and timely remediation.