CVE-2009-3579 in Jetty
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the CookieDump.java sample application in Mort Bay Jetty 6.1.19 and 6.1.20 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the Value parameter in a GET request to cookie/.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/23/2021
The vulnerability described in CVE-2009-3579 represents a classic cross-site scripting flaw within the Mort Bay Jetty web server sample applications. This issue specifically affects the CookieDump.java component that is part of the Jetty 6.1.19 and 6.1.20 versions, making it a server-side application security weakness that can be exploited by remote attackers without requiring any authentication or privileged access. The vulnerability manifests through a GET request parameter named Value, which is processed by the cookie/ endpoint of the sample application, creating an avenue for malicious script injection attacks that can compromise user sessions and data integrity.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs when an attacker crafts a malicious GET request containing specially formatted script code within the Value parameter of the cookie/ endpoint. The Jetty server fails to properly sanitize or escape the user-supplied input before rendering it in the web response, allowing the injected JavaScript code to execute within the context of a victim's browser session. This particular flaw falls under the CWE-79 category of Cross-Site Scripting, which is one of the most prevalent and dangerous web application vulnerabilities in the industry. The vulnerability's classification aligns with the Common Weakness Enumeration's definition of XSS as a weakness where untrusted data is incorporated into web page content without proper validation or encoding, creating a direct path for malicious script execution.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script injection, as it can enable attackers to perform session hijacking, steal sensitive user information, manipulate web page content, and potentially redirect users to malicious sites. Since this affects a sample application rather than the core Jetty functionality, it demonstrates how even demonstration code can contain security flaws that might be inadvertently deployed in production environments. The vulnerability affects any user who interacts with the CookieDump.java sample application, particularly those who might be tricked into clicking malicious links or visiting compromised web pages that exploit this flaw. The attack surface is relatively limited to users accessing the specific cookie/ endpoint, but the consequences can be severe for any user whose browser executes the injected malicious code, potentially leading to full account compromise and data exfiltration.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including input validation and output encoding for all user-supplied parameters, particularly within web applications that process cookie data. The recommended approach involves sanitizing all GET parameters before rendering them in web responses, implementing proper HTML escaping techniques, and conducting regular security assessments of sample applications before deployment. Additionally, the vulnerability highlights the importance of following secure coding practices as outlined in the OWASP Top Ten and the ATT&CK framework's application layer exploitation techniques, specifically targeting the T1212 technique related to exploitation of web application vulnerabilities. Organizations should also consider implementing content security policies to further reduce the impact of potential XSS attacks and ensure that sample applications are properly reviewed and secured before being made available to end users or deployed in production environments.