CVE-2007-0791 in Bugzilla
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Atom feeds in Bugzilla 2.20.3, 2.22.1, and 2.23.3, and earlier versions down to 2.20.1, allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via unspecified vectors.
Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/23/2018
The vulnerability described in CVE-2007-0791 represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw within Bugzilla's Atom feed functionality, affecting versions ranging from 2.20.1 through 2.23.3. This issue resides in the web application's handling of user-supplied data within syndication feeds, specifically targeting the Atom format that Bugzilla uses to provide automated updates and notifications. The vulnerability's impact extends across multiple release branches of the bug tracking system, indicating a fundamental flaw in the input sanitization process that was not adequately addressed during the development lifecycle. The affected versions suggest this weakness persisted for several minor releases, highlighting potential gaps in the security testing and code review processes within the Bugzilla development team.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through the manipulation of Atom feed generation mechanisms where user-provided content fails to undergo proper sanitization before being rendered in the feed output. Attackers can craft malicious input that, when processed through the Atom feed generation routine, gets embedded directly into the feed output without adequate encoding or filtering. This allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary HTML and JavaScript code that executes in the context of users who consume these feeds through compatible readers or web applications. The unspecified vectors indicate that multiple entry points within the feed generation system could be exploited, potentially including bug descriptions, comments, or other user-contributed content that gets serialized into the Atom format. The vulnerability's classification as a persistent XSS flaw means that malicious scripts can be stored and executed whenever users access the affected feeds, creating a sustained attack surface.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data corruption or user inconvenience, as it enables attackers to perform sophisticated social engineering campaigns and potentially escalate privileges within the Bugzilla environment. Users consuming the vulnerable Atom feeds become unwitting participants in the attack chain, with their browsers executing malicious code that could harvest session cookies, redirect them to malicious sites, or perform actions on their behalf within the Bugzilla application context. This represents a significant risk to organizational security, particularly in environments where Bugzilla serves as a critical communication platform for software development teams. The vulnerability's presence in multiple versions suggests that organizations using these affected releases faced prolonged exposure to potential exploitation, with the risk increasing over time as more users consumed the feeds. The attack vector's accessibility through standard Atom feed consumption patterns means that even passive users could become compromised, making this vulnerability particularly dangerous in collaborative development environments.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including upgrading to patched versions of Bugzilla where available, as the vulnerability was addressed through proper input sanitization and output encoding mechanisms. Security teams should also consider implementing feed filtering mechanisms at network boundaries to prevent malicious content from reaching users, while ensuring that all user-generated content undergoes proper validation before being included in syndication feeds. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-79, which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws, and demonstrates the importance of proper input validation and output encoding in web applications. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to techniques involving client-side code injection and session hijacking, with potential for privilege escalation through the exploitation of the application's trust model. Additionally, organizations should establish comprehensive testing procedures for web applications, including automated security scanning and manual penetration testing of feed generation components to identify similar vulnerabilities before they can be exploited in production environments.