CVE-2008-1974 in Groupware
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in addevent.php in Horde Kronolith 2.1.7, Groupware Webmail Edition 1.0.6, and Groupware 1.0.5 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the url parameter.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/09/2025
The CVE-2008-1974 vulnerability represents a classic cross-site scripting flaw that affected multiple versions of the Horde Groupware suite, specifically Kronolith 2.1.7 and Groupware Webmail Edition 1.0.6, along with Groupware 1.0.5. This vulnerability resides in the addevent.php script which processes calendar event creation functionality, making it a significant concern for web applications that handle user input through web forms. The vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and output sanitization mechanisms that fail to properly escape or filter malicious content submitted through the url parameter.
The technical implementation of this XSS vulnerability occurs when the application accepts user-supplied data through the url parameter without proper sanitization before rendering it in the web response. Attackers can craft malicious URLs containing embedded JavaScript code or HTML content that gets executed in the context of other users' browsers when they view the affected calendar events. This type of vulnerability falls under CWE-79 which specifically addresses Cross-Site Scripting flaws, and represents a critical weakness in input validation and output encoding practices within the application's security architecture.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data theft or defacement, as it can enable attackers to perform session hijacking, redirect users to malicious sites, or execute arbitrary commands within the victim's browser context. When users interact with calendar events containing malicious payloads, the XSS attack can compromise their sessions, steal cookies, or redirect them to phishing sites that mimic legitimate services. This vulnerability particularly affects collaborative environments where users trust calendar information from colleagues, making the attack surface more extensive and potentially more damaging.
Security professionals should implement comprehensive input validation and output encoding mechanisms to prevent such vulnerabilities from occurring in web applications. The recommended mitigations include implementing strict input filtering that rejects or escapes special characters, utilizing proper HTML entity encoding for all user-supplied content before rendering, and implementing Content Security Policy headers to limit script execution. This vulnerability demonstrates the importance of following secure coding practices and adhering to standards such as those outlined in the OWASP Top Ten project, which consistently identifies XSS as one of the most prevalent web application security risks requiring immediate attention and remediation.