CVE-2008-3782 in Acg Ptp
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities in admin/index.php in ACG-PTP 1.0.6 allow remote authenticated administrators to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the (1) Category name field under Advertisement Packages, the (2) Reason field under Credit/Debit Users, and the (3) FAQ question and (4) FAQ answer fields under Add New FAQ Entry.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/26/2017
The CVE-2008-3782 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw in the ACG-PTP 1.0.6 content management system that specifically targets administrative functions. This vulnerability exists within the admin/index.php file and affects multiple input fields that are accessible to authenticated administrators, creating a significant security risk for systems that rely on this platform for managing advertisements, user credits, and frequently asked questions. The flaw demonstrates a classic failure in input validation and output sanitization that allows malicious actors with administrative privileges to execute arbitrary scripts within the context of other users' browsers.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from the application's insufficient sanitization of user inputs across four distinct administrative fields. The Category name field under Advertisement Packages, the Reason field under Credit/Debit Users, and the FAQ question and answer fields under Add New FAQ Entry all fail to properly validate or escape user-supplied data before rendering it back to the browser. This lack of proper input sanitization creates an environment where malicious scripts can be injected and subsequently executed when other administrators or users view these administrative pages. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it requires only authenticated administrative access, meaning that any user who has gained administrative privileges can exploit this flaw without additional authentication requirements.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability creates a significant attack surface for malicious actors who have already compromised administrative credentials or gained access through other means. The impact extends beyond simple script execution to potentially enable session hijacking, data exfiltration, and further privilege escalation within the application. Attackers could craft malicious entries that, when viewed by other administrators, would execute scripts to steal session cookies, redirect users to phishing sites, or perform unauthorized actions within the application. The vulnerability also aligns with CWE-79 which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws, and represents a clear violation of secure coding practices that should prevent user input from being directly rendered without proper sanitization.
The exploitation of this vulnerability requires an attacker to possess valid administrative credentials, which makes it less accessible than client-side XSS flaws but still highly concerning given the elevated privileges that administrators possess. The attack vector is straightforward: an attacker with administrative access creates malicious entries in the vulnerable fields, which are then executed when other administrators view these pages. This creates a persistent threat that can be maintained over time and potentially used to establish backdoors or conduct ongoing surveillance of administrative activities. The vulnerability also relates to ATT&CK technique T1566 which covers social engineering through malicious content, and T1078 which involves legitimate credentials for persistence.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on implementing comprehensive input validation and output sanitization across all administrative interfaces. The most effective approach involves escaping all user-supplied data before rendering it in the browser context, particularly for HTML attributes and content. Implementing proper content security policies and using parameterized queries for database operations would significantly reduce the risk. Additionally, regular security audits should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities in other input fields, and all administrative interfaces should undergo rigorous testing for XSS vulnerabilities. The system should also implement proper access controls and monitoring to detect suspicious administrative activities that might indicate exploitation attempts. Organizations using ACG-PTP 1.0.6 should urgently apply patches or upgrade to newer versions that address these input validation issues, as the vulnerability provides a direct pathway for attackers to escalate privileges and compromise the entire administrative environment.