CVE-2006-6357 in PHPNews
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in templates/cat_temp.php in PHPNews 1.3.0 and earlier allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via unspecified vectors. NOTE: The provenance of this information is unknown; the details are obtained solely from third party information.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/09/2018
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2006-6357 represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw within the PHPNews content management system version 1.3.0 and earlier. This vulnerability exists in the templates/cat_temp.php file, which serves as a template component for category display functionality. The flaw allows remote attackers to inject malicious web scripts or HTML code into the application's output, potentially compromising user sessions and data integrity. The vulnerability's classification as XSS (CWE-79) indicates that the application fails to properly validate or sanitize user-supplied input that gets reflected back to users without adequate encoding or filtering mechanisms.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through unspecified vectors within the category template processing logic. When users navigate to category pages that utilize the vulnerable cat_temp.php template, any malicious input injected into category-related parameters gets executed in the context of other users' browsers. This type of vulnerability typically arises when applications fail to implement proper input sanitization or output encoding mechanisms, allowing attackers to inject HTML or JavaScript code that executes in the victim's browser context. The attack vector could involve manipulation of URL parameters, form inputs, or other user-controllable data that gets processed through the template system.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script injection, as it can enable attackers to perform session hijacking, deface websites, steal sensitive information, or redirect users to malicious sites. An attacker could craft a malicious category name or description that, when displayed in the template, executes malicious JavaScript code in the browser of any user who views the affected page. This could lead to unauthorized access to user accounts, data theft, or the deployment of additional malware through the compromised user sessions. The vulnerability's persistence across multiple versions of PHPNews indicates a fundamental flaw in the application's input handling architecture that was not adequately addressed in the affected releases.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on implementing comprehensive input validation and output encoding mechanisms throughout the application. Organizations should immediately upgrade to PHPNews versions that have addressed this vulnerability, as the affected versions are no longer supported and likely contain additional security flaws. The implementation of proper HTML encoding for all user-supplied content before rendering in templates would prevent script execution in browser contexts. Additionally, the application should enforce strict input validation to reject potentially malicious content and implement Content Security Policy headers to limit script execution. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.001 for command and scripting interpreter and represents a classic example of how template injection flaws can lead to persistent security issues in web applications.