CVE-2008-2766 in Absolute Image Gallery XE
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Xigla Absolute Image Gallery XE allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via unspecified vectors in (1) admin/search.asp and (2) gallery.asp.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/16/2017
The CVE-2008-2766 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw within the Xigla Absolute Image Gallery XE web application, posing significant security risks to organizations utilizing this image gallery software. This vulnerability specifically affects two key administrative and user-facing pages of the application, namely admin/search.asp and gallery.asp, which serve as primary interfaces for managing and displaying image collections. The flaw enables remote attackers to execute malicious scripts within the context of affected users' browsers, potentially leading to unauthorized actions and data compromise. The vulnerability's classification as a persistent XSS issue means that malicious code injected through these vectors can be stored and subsequently executed whenever affected pages are accessed, making it particularly dangerous for web applications that process user input.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and output sanitization mechanisms within the affected application components. When users interact with the admin/search.asp or gallery.asp pages, the application fails to properly sanitize user-supplied data before incorporating it into dynamic web content. This lack of proper data sanitization creates an opening for attackers to inject malicious script code that gets executed in the victim's browser context. The vulnerability's impact extends beyond simple script execution, as it can be leveraged to steal session cookies, perform unauthorized actions on behalf of users, or redirect victims to malicious websites. According to CWE classification, this vulnerability maps to CWE-79 which specifically addresses Cross-site Scripting flaws, while the ATT&CK framework would categorize this under T1566 - Phishing and T1059 - Command and Scripting Interpreter for the execution phases of an attack.
The operational impact of CVE-2008-2766 is substantial for organizations running vulnerable versions of Xigla Absolute Image Gallery XE, as it provides attackers with a direct pathway to compromise user sessions and potentially gain unauthorized access to administrative functions. The vulnerability affects both the administrative interface and the public gallery display, meaning that even casual visitors to the gallery could be targeted through malicious script injection. Attackers could exploit this flaw to steal user authentication tokens, manipulate gallery content, or redirect users to phishing sites designed to capture credentials. The persistence of the vulnerability means that once exploited, the malicious scripts remain active until manually removed from the application's data storage, potentially affecting multiple users over extended periods. Organizations using this gallery software face risks including data theft, service disruption, and potential compliance violations, particularly in environments where user privacy and data protection are paramount considerations.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2008-2766 should prioritize immediate remediation through official vendor patches and updates, as the vulnerability has been identified and documented for over a decade. Organizations should implement comprehensive input validation mechanisms that sanitize all user-supplied data before processing, particularly for fields that appear in the admin/search.asp and gallery.asp pages. Web application firewalls can provide additional protection layers by detecting and blocking malicious script injection attempts, though this should not replace proper application-level fixes. Input encoding and output escaping techniques should be implemented to ensure that any potentially malicious content is neutralized before being rendered in web browsers. Security monitoring should be enhanced to detect unusual patterns in gallery access or search queries that might indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability's age suggests that organizations should consider migrating to more modern gallery solutions with established security track records, as legacy software often contains unpatched vulnerabilities that pose ongoing risks to organizational security postures.