CVE-2008-2210 in Maian Support
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities in Maian Support 1.3 allow remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the (1) msg_script, (2) msg_script2, and (3) msg_script3 parameters to admin/inc/footer.php; and the (4) msg_script2 parameter to admin/inc/header.php.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/19/2017
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2008-2210 represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw affecting Maian Support version 1.3, a web-based customer support management system. This vulnerability exposes the application to remote code execution through malicious script injection, potentially compromising user sessions and data integrity. The flaw manifests in the administrative interface where user-supplied input is not properly sanitized before being rendered back to users, creating persistent XSS attack vectors that can be exploited by remote adversaries without authentication.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and output encoding within the application's administrative components. Specifically, the msg_script, msg_script2, and msg_script3 parameters in admin/inc/footer.php, along with the msg_script2 parameter in admin/inc/header.php, accept unfiltered user input that gets directly embedded into HTML responses. This lack of proper sanitization allows attackers to inject malicious JavaScript code, HTML tags, or other harmful content that executes in the context of victim browsers. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-79 as "Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')", which is a fundamental weakness in web application security architecture.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script injection, as it enables attackers to perform session hijacking, deface the support system, redirect users to malicious sites, or harvest sensitive information from authenticated sessions. An attacker could craft malicious payloads that exploit the XSS flaws to steal administrator credentials, modify support ticket data, or inject backdoors into the system. The persistence of these vulnerabilities across multiple files within the administrative interface suggests a systemic security weakness in the application's input handling mechanisms, potentially affecting all users who interact with the support system's administrative functions.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate implementation of proper input sanitization and output encoding practices throughout the application's codebase. The recommended approach involves implementing strict input validation using allowlists for acceptable characters and lengths, combined with comprehensive output encoding before rendering any user-supplied content in HTML contexts. Organizations should also implement Content Security Policy headers to limit script execution and prevent unauthorized code injection. Additionally, the application should be upgraded to a patched version or replaced with a more secure support management system. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566.001 for "Phishing: Spearphishing Attachment" and T1566.002 for "Phishing: Spearphishing Link", as attackers could leverage these XSS flaws to create malicious links or attachments that exploit the vulnerability, particularly in the context of targeted attacks against support system administrators.