CVE-2008-2117 in Project Alumni
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in pages/news.page.inc in Project Alumni 1.0.9 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the year parameter in a news action to index.php, a different vector than CVE-2007-6126.
Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/16/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2008-2117 represents a cross-site scripting flaw in Project Alumni version 1.0.9 that specifically targets the pages/news.page.inc component. This security weakness enables remote attackers to execute malicious web scripts or HTML code within the context of affected user sessions. The vulnerability manifests through the year parameter within the news action of the index.php script, creating a distinct attack vector from previously known vulnerabilities such as CVE-2007-6126. The flaw resides in the insufficient input validation and output sanitization mechanisms that fail to properly escape or filter user-supplied data before incorporating it into dynamic web page content.
The technical implementation of this XSS vulnerability stems from the application's failure to adequately sanitize the year parameter before rendering it in the web page output. When users navigate to the news section with a maliciously crafted year parameter, the application directly incorporates this unsanitized input into the HTML response without proper encoding or escaping mechanisms. This creates an environment where attackers can inject malicious scripts that execute in the victim's browser context, potentially leading to session hijacking, credential theft, or redirection to malicious sites. The vulnerability operates under CWE-79 which categorizes improper neutralization of input during web page generation, specifically targeting the injection of malicious code into web applications.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability poses significant risks to the Project Alumni application and its users. Attackers can exploit this weakness to steal session cookies, perform unauthorized actions on behalf of users, or redirect victims to phishing sites that mimic legitimate application interfaces. The impact extends beyond individual user compromise to potentially affect the entire application's integrity and user trust. The different attack vector from CVE-2007-6126 indicates that defenders must consider multiple entry points for XSS attacks within the same application, requiring comprehensive input validation across all user-controllable parameters. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.001 which describes the use of command and scripting interpreters for execution, as attackers can leverage the XSS to inject various script types including javascript and vbscript.
The mitigation strategies for CVE-2008-2117 should focus on implementing robust input validation and output encoding practices throughout the application. Developers must ensure that all user-supplied parameters, particularly those used in dynamic content generation, undergo proper sanitization before being rendered in web pages. This includes implementing proper HTML escaping mechanisms for all dynamic content, utilizing secure coding practices that prevent the direct injection of user input into HTML contexts, and establishing comprehensive input validation routines that reject or sanitize potentially malicious content. Additionally, implementing a Content Security Policy (CSP) header can provide an additional layer of protection against XSS attacks by restricting the sources from which scripts can be loaded and executed, thereby limiting the impact of successful XSS exploitation attempts.