CVE-2008-2758 in Absolute News Manager XE
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities in Xigla Absolute News Manager XE 3.2 allow remote authenticated administrators to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the (1) pblname and (2) text parameters to (a) admin/search.asp, (3) name parameter to (b) admin/publishers.asp, and other unspecified vectors to (c) anmviewer.asp and (d) editarticleX.asp in admin/. NOTE: some of these details are obtained from third party information.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/16/2017
The CVE-2008-2758 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site scripting weakness in Xigla Absolute News Manager XE 3.2 that specifically targets authenticated administrative users. This vulnerability falls under the CWE-79 category of Cross-Site Scripting, which is a fundamental web application security flaw that allows attackers to inject malicious client-side scripts into web pages viewed by other users. The vulnerability affects multiple administrative endpoints within the news management system, creating multiple attack vectors that could be exploited by malicious actors with administrative credentials.
The technical flaw manifests through insufficient input validation and output encoding in several key administrative scripts. Attackers with valid administrator accounts can manipulate the pblname and text parameters in the admin/search.asp file, the name parameter in admin/publishers.asp, and unspecified parameters in anmviewer.asp and editarticleX.asp files. These parameters fail to properly sanitize user input before rendering it in web responses, allowing malicious scripts to be executed in the context of authenticated sessions. The vulnerability's impact is amplified because it targets administrative interfaces where attackers could potentially gain elevated privileges and access sensitive data.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant for organizations using Xigla Absolute News Manager XE 3.2, as it enables authenticated attackers to execute arbitrary web scripts within the administrative context. This could lead to session hijacking, privilege escalation, data theft, or the deployment of malicious payloads that persist across user sessions. The attack requires only administrative authentication, making it particularly dangerous as it leverages legitimate administrative access to perform malicious activities. Attackers could potentially modify content, create new administrative accounts, or exfiltrate sensitive information from the news management system.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2008-2758 should focus on implementing proper input validation and output encoding mechanisms across all administrative endpoints. Organizations should enforce strict parameter validation for all user-supplied inputs, particularly in administrative interfaces where sensitive operations occur. The implementation of Content Security Policy headers and proper HTML escaping techniques can prevent script execution in response contexts. Additionally, regular security updates and patches should be applied to address known vulnerabilities, with administrators implementing principle of least privilege to limit the impact of compromised administrative accounts. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for Command and Scripting Interpreter, where attackers can leverage administrative access to execute malicious scripts within the application environment.