CVE-2008-0523 in SoftCart
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities in SoftCart.exe in SoftCart 5.1.2.2 allow remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the (1) License_Plate, (2) License_State, (3) Ticket_Date, and (4) Ticket_Number parameters. 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 • 09/15/2018
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2008-0523 represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw in SoftCart 5.1.2.2 software, specifically within the SoftCart.exe component. This issue falls under the CWE-79 category of Cross-Site Scripting, which is one of the most prevalent and dangerous web application security vulnerabilities. The vulnerability affects multiple input parameters including License_Plate, License_State, Ticket_Date, and Ticket_Number, indicating a systemic flaw in the application's input validation and output encoding mechanisms. The attack vector is remote, meaning that malicious actors can exploit this vulnerability without requiring physical access to the target system or user interaction beyond visiting a malicious web page.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs when user-supplied input containing malicious script code is processed by the SoftCart.exe application and subsequently displayed in web pages without proper sanitization or encoding. When an attacker crafts malicious input for any of the four vulnerable parameters, the application fails to validate or escape the input before rendering it in the browser context. This allows attackers to inject arbitrary HTML or JavaScript code that executes in the context of other users' browsers who view the affected pages. The vulnerability demonstrates a classic lack of input sanitization and output encoding practices that are fundamental to preventing XSS attacks according to industry security standards.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant as it enables attackers to perform various malicious activities including session hijacking, credential theft, defacement of web content, and redirection to malicious sites. An attacker could potentially steal user sessions, modify data, or redirect victims to phishing pages that appear legitimate. The broad scope of affected parameters suggests that this vulnerability could be exploited across multiple functional areas of the SoftCart application, potentially compromising various user interactions and data processing activities. This vulnerability also aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566 which covers spearphishing with a malicious attachment, as attackers could leverage this vulnerability to deliver malicious payloads through crafted web requests.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on implementing proper input validation and output encoding mechanisms across all user-supplied parameters. Organizations should immediately apply the vendor-provided patches or updates if available, and in the absence of official fixes, implement input sanitization at the application level. The remediation approach should include validating all input data against whitelisted character sets, implementing proper HTML encoding for all output, and employing Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to limit script execution. Additionally, regular security testing including dynamic application security testing and manual penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities in other components of the application stack. The vulnerability underscores the importance of following secure coding practices and adhering to OWASP Top Ten security guidelines for preventing cross-site scripting attacks in web applications.