CVE-2007-0601 in Aztek
Summary
by MITRE
common/safety.php in Aztek Forum 4.00 allows remote attackers to enter certain data containing %22 sequences (URL encoded double quotes) and other potentially dangerous manipulations by sending a cookie, which bypasses the blacklist matching against the GET and PUT superglobal arrays.
If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/18/2018
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2007-0601 resides within the common/safety.php file of Aztek Forum version 4.00, representing a critical input validation flaw that undermines the application's security posture. This issue manifests when the application fails to properly sanitize user-supplied data, particularly in cookie values that contain URL-encoded double quotes represented as %22 sequences. The flaw stems from an incomplete blacklist filtering mechanism that only examines GET and PUT superglobal arrays while neglecting cookie data, creating a significant bypass opportunity for malicious actors.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability demonstrates a classic insecure data handling pattern where the security controls are applied inconsistently across different input vectors. When an attacker crafts a malicious cookie containing %22 sequences along with other dangerous manipulations, the application's filtering logic fails to detect these threats because it does not process cookie data through the same validation routines applied to other input methods. This inconsistency creates a direct attack surface that allows arbitrary data injection, potentially enabling cross-site scripting attacks, data manipulation, or privilege escalation depending on how the application processes the validated input.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data corruption, as it provides attackers with a reliable method to bypass fundamental security controls designed to prevent malicious input. By leveraging the cookie-based bypass, adversaries can inject potentially dangerous content that may be processed by the application without proper sanitization, leading to unauthorized access, data theft, or system compromise. The vulnerability's remote exploitability means that attackers do not require physical access or local privileges to leverage this flaw, making it particularly dangerous in web environments where cookies are routinely used for session management and user preferences.
This vulnerability aligns with CWE-20, which describes improper input validation, and exhibits characteristics consistent with CWE-79, cross-site scripting, when the injected content is later rendered in web pages. The flaw also corresponds to ATT&CK technique T1210, exploitation of remote services, as it allows attackers to manipulate application behavior through remote cookie injection. Additionally, the inconsistent validation approach demonstrates a failure to implement comprehensive input sanitization across all user-supplied data vectors, which is a fundamental requirement for maintaining application security boundaries. Organizations should implement strict input validation controls that uniformly process all data sources including cookies, headers, and form data to prevent similar bypass scenarios.
The remediation approach for this vulnerability requires implementing comprehensive input sanitization that processes all user-supplied data through consistent validation routines regardless of the input source. Security controls must be applied uniformly across GET, POST, PUT, and cookie data to prevent attackers from exploiting inconsistencies in validation logic. Organizations should also implement proper encoding and escaping mechanisms for all user-generated content to prevent malicious data from being executed or interpreted as commands. The fix should include a complete review of all input handling functions to ensure that no data source is overlooked in the sanitization process, establishing a robust defense-in-depth strategy that prevents similar vulnerabilities from emerging in other parts of the application.