CVE-2008-4745 in eCart Professional
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in emailFriend.asp in Uniwin eCart Professional 2.0.17 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via unspecified vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/07/2017
The CVE-2008-4745 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw within the Uniwin eCart Professional 2.0.17 web application platform. This vulnerability specifically affects the emailFriend.asp component, which is designed to enable users to share product information or website content with friends via email functionality. The flaw stems from inadequate input validation and output encoding mechanisms that fail to properly sanitize user-supplied data before incorporating it into dynamically generated web pages. As a result, malicious actors can exploit this weakness to inject arbitrary web scripts or HTML code that executes within the context of other users' browsers when they access the affected functionality.
The technical nature of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-79, which categorizes cross-site scripting as a code injection flaw where untrusted data is improperly incorporated into web pages without adequate sanitization or encoding. This particular implementation flaw allows attackers to leverage the email sharing feature as a vector for delivering malicious payloads, potentially executing scripts in the victim's browser session. The unspecified vectors mentioned in the original description suggest that multiple input points within the emailFriend.asp component may be susceptible to manipulation, making the attack surface broader than initially apparent. The vulnerability exists because the application fails to implement proper contextual output encoding or input validation controls when processing data submitted through the email sharing interface.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script injection, as it provides attackers with the capability to perform session hijacking, steal sensitive user information, redirect victims to malicious websites, or even execute more sophisticated attacks such as credential theft. When users click on links or interact with pages containing malicious code injected through this vulnerability, their browsers execute the attacker's payload within the legitimate website context, making detection more challenging. The attack can be particularly damaging in e-commerce environments where users may have active sessions with elevated privileges, potentially allowing attackers to access personal information, modify orders, or compromise user accounts. This vulnerability undermines the fundamental security assumptions of web applications by enabling attackers to exploit legitimate user trust in the application's interface.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2008-4745 should prioritize immediate remediation through proper input validation and output encoding implementations. Organizations should implement comprehensive sanitization of all user inputs, particularly those processed through web forms and email sharing components, ensuring that potentially dangerous characters and script tags are properly escaped or removed before processing. The application should adopt context-appropriate output encoding mechanisms that prevent malicious code from executing when rendered in different contexts such as HTML, JavaScript, or URL contexts. Additionally, implementing proper security headers including Content Security Policy (CSP) can provide additional defense-in-depth against XSS attacks. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of regular security assessments and code reviews, as well as maintaining up-to-date web application security practices aligned with industry standards such as those recommended in the OWASP Top Ten and NIST guidelines for secure web application development. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls and monitoring systems to detect and prevent exploitation attempts targeting similar vulnerabilities in their web applications.