CVE-2008-4751 in iPei Guestbook
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in index.php in iPei Guestbook 2.0 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the pg parameter, a different vector than CVE-2005-4597.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/20/2025
The CVE-2008-4751 vulnerability represents a cross-site scripting flaw in the iPei Guestbook 2.0 web application that specifically targets the index.php script. This vulnerability falls under the CWE-79 category of Cross-Site Scripting, which is a critical web application security weakness that enables attackers to inject malicious client-side scripts into web pages viewed by other users. The vulnerability is particularly concerning as it demonstrates how web applications can fail to properly sanitize user input, creating opportunities for attackers to execute arbitrary code in the context of other users' browsers.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through the pg parameter within the index.php file, which serves as the injection vector for malicious payloads. Unlike CVE-2005-4597 which may have targeted different input points, this specific flaw allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web scripts or HTML content directly through the pg parameter. The vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and output encoding mechanisms within the application's processing of user-supplied data, particularly when handling the page parameter that determines which section of the guestbook to display. Attackers can craft malicious URLs containing script tags or other HTML content within the pg parameter, which gets rendered without proper sanitization, thereby executing the injected code in the victim's browser.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it can enable attackers to perform various malicious activities including session hijacking, credential theft, data exfiltration, and redirection to malicious sites. When users visit a compromised page with the injected script, their browsers execute the malicious code, potentially leading to unauthorized access to their accounts, modification of guestbook entries, or even complete compromise of their browser sessions. The vulnerability affects the application's integrity and confidentiality, as it allows attackers to manipulate the guestbook content and potentially gain access to sensitive information. This type of vulnerability is particularly dangerous in guestbook applications where users might trust the content and interact with it, making the attack surface more expansive than typical web applications.
Security mitigations for this vulnerability should focus on implementing robust input validation and output encoding mechanisms throughout the application's codebase. The primary defense involves sanitizing all user input parameters, particularly those used in dynamic content generation, through proper escaping and encoding techniques before rendering them in web pages. The application should implement proper HTML entity encoding for all output that originates from user-supplied data, preventing script execution in the browser context. Additionally, developers should employ Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to restrict script execution and implement proper parameter validation to ensure that only expected values are accepted for the pg parameter. This vulnerability highlights the importance of following secure coding practices and adhering to the principle of least privilege in web application development, as outlined in various security frameworks including the OWASP Top Ten and NIST cybersecurity guidelines. The remediation process should also include comprehensive code reviews and security testing to identify similar input validation flaws that may exist in other parts of the application.