CVE-2007-1183 in WebAPP
Summary
by MITRE
WebAPP before 0.9.9.5 allows remote authenticated users to spoof another user s Real Name via whitespace, which has unknown impact and attack vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/25/2018
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2007-1183 affects WebAPP versions prior to 0.9.9.5 and represents a significant security flaw related to user identity spoofing. This issue enables authenticated remote attackers to manipulate the display of real names within the application, creating a potential avenue for social engineering attacks and identity confusion. The vulnerability specifically exploits whitespace handling mechanisms within the application's user interface rendering process, allowing malicious users to craft deceptive identities that could be mistaken for legitimate users by other system participants.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and sanitization of user-provided real name fields. When users submit their real names, the application fails to properly handle whitespace characters that may be inserted at the beginning or end of name strings. This weakness creates an opportunity for attackers to insert invisible or non-printable whitespace characters that can alter how names appear to other users while maintaining the underlying authentication credentials. The flaw operates at the presentation layer of the application, where user identity information is displayed rather than at the authentication or authorization level, making it particularly insidious as it can bypass many traditional security controls while still affecting user trust and system integrity.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple identity confusion and could enable more sophisticated attacks within the application environment. Attackers could potentially use this weakness to impersonate trusted users, manipulate user permissions through social engineering, or create confusion in audit trails and user activity monitoring systems. The unknown impact and attack vectors mentioned in the original description suggest that this vulnerability could be leveraged in multiple ways depending on the specific application context and user interaction patterns. This type of vulnerability particularly affects collaborative environments where user identity verification is critical for access control and accountability purposes, as it undermines the fundamental trust model that secure applications rely upon.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2007-1183 should focus on implementing robust input sanitization and validation mechanisms that normalize whitespace characters in user identity fields. The most effective approach involves stripping or replacing all whitespace characters from real name inputs during processing, ensuring consistent display formatting, and implementing proper character encoding standards. Organizations should also consider implementing input length restrictions and character set validation to prevent exploitation through other whitespace-related vulnerabilities. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-184, which addresses incomplete input validation, and could potentially be mapped to ATT&CK technique T1078.004 for valid accounts, as it enables attackers to leverage legitimate authenticated sessions to perform identity spoofing. System administrators should also implement monitoring for unusual whitespace patterns in user identity fields and consider regular security audits of user interface rendering components to identify similar vulnerabilities in other application modules.