CVE-2007-0542 in Guestbook
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in show.php in 212cafe Guestbook 4.00 beta allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the user parameter.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/18/2018
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2007-0542 represents a classic cross-site scripting flaw within the 212cafe Guestbook 4.00 beta application, specifically affecting the show.php script. This type of vulnerability falls under the Common Weakness Enumeration category CWE-79 which defines improper neutralization of input during web page generation as a security weakness. The flaw manifests when the application fails to properly sanitize user-supplied input before incorporating it into dynamically generated web content, creating an avenue for malicious actors to execute arbitrary scripts in the context of other users' browsers.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through the manipulation of the user parameter within the show.php script, which serves as the entry point for the XSS attack vector. When an attacker crafts a malicious payload containing script code and submits it through the user parameter, the vulnerable application processes this input without adequate sanitization or encoding mechanisms. The resulting web page output then includes the attacker's malicious script code, which executes automatically in the browsers of unsuspecting visitors who access the affected guestbook entries. This creates a persistent threat where each visitor becomes a potential victim of the stored XSS attack, as the malicious script remains embedded within the application's database entries.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data theft or defacement, as it enables attackers to perform various malicious activities through the compromised user sessions. According to the MITRE ATT&CK framework, this vulnerability maps to technique T1059.007 for Command and Scripting Interpreter: JavaScript, and T1566 for Phishing, as attackers can leverage the XSS to redirect users to malicious sites or steal session cookies. The vulnerability allows for session hijacking, where attackers can steal authentication tokens and impersonate legitimate users, potentially gaining administrative access to the guestbook system. Additionally, the persistent nature of stored XSS means that the attack can affect multiple users over time, making it particularly dangerous for web applications that host user-generated content.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate implementation of proper input validation and output encoding mechanisms throughout the application's codebase. The most effective approach involves implementing strict sanitization of all user input parameters, particularly those that are directly rendered in web pages, using context-appropriate encoding techniques such as HTML entity encoding for output contexts. Organizations should also implement Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to limit the sources from which scripts can be executed, providing an additional layer of protection against XSS attacks. Regular security audits and code reviews should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities in other parts of the application, while application developers should follow secure coding practices that prevent the injection of untrusted data into executable contexts. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of input validation in web applications and highlights the necessity of implementing defense-in-depth strategies that protect against various attack vectors that could compromise user sessions and data integrity.