CVE-2008-4571 in Plone
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the LiveSearch module in Plone before 3.0.4 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the Description field for search results, as demonstrated using the onerror Javascript even in an IMG tag.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/11/2018
The CVE-2008-4571 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw within the LiveSearch module of Plone content management systems prior to version 3.0.4. This vulnerability falls under the CWE-79 category of Cross-Site Scripting and specifically demonstrates how user input validation failures can lead to severe security implications in web applications. The flaw exists in the way the system processes and displays search result descriptions, creating an avenue for malicious actors to execute arbitrary JavaScript code within the context of other users' browsers.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through the Description field of search results, where attackers can inject malicious content that gets rendered without proper sanitization. The demonstration of the attack vector involves using the onerror JavaScript event within an IMG tag, which is a classic XSS technique that leverages the browser's handling of broken image resources to execute malicious scripts. This particular attack method exploits the fact that the Plone system does not adequately filter or escape user-provided content before displaying it in web pages, allowing attackers to inject HTML and JavaScript code that executes in the context of legitimate users.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant as it enables remote attackers to perform various malicious activities including session hijacking, credential theft, and data exfiltration. When users view search results containing the injected malicious code, their browsers execute the JavaScript in the context of the Plone application, potentially allowing attackers to steal cookies, modify content, or redirect users to malicious sites. The vulnerability affects the entire Plone ecosystem, particularly impacting organizations that rely on the LiveSearch functionality for content discovery and user interaction. This type of vulnerability undermines the trust model of web applications and can lead to widespread compromise of user sessions and sensitive data.
Organizations should immediately upgrade to Plone version 3.0.4 or later to address this vulnerability, as the fix implements proper input sanitization and output encoding mechanisms for user-provided content. Additional mitigations include implementing content security policies, deploying web application firewalls, and conducting regular security assessments of web applications. The vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for JavaScript execution and demonstrates the importance of input validation and output encoding as fundamental security controls. Security teams should also consider implementing automated scanning tools to identify similar vulnerabilities in other web applications and establish robust security testing procedures that include dynamic analysis of user input handling.