CVE-2009-4083 in e107
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities in e107 0.7.16 and earlier allow remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via unspecified vectors in (1) submitnews.php, (2) usersettings.php; and (3) newpost.php, (4) banlist.php, (5) banner.php, (6) cpage.php, (7) download.php, (8) users_extended.php, (9) frontpage.php, (10) links.php, and (11) mailout.php in e107_admin/. NOTE: this may overlap CVE-2004-2040 and CVE-2006-4794, but there are insufficient details to be certain.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/28/2021
The vulnerability described in CVE-2009-4083 represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw affecting the e107 content management system version 0.7.16 and earlier. This vulnerability resides in multiple administrative PHP scripts within the e107_admin directory, making it particularly dangerous as it targets the system's administrative interfaces where privileged users operate. The flaw allows remote attackers to inject malicious web scripts or HTML code into the application's response, potentially compromising user sessions and enabling unauthorized access to sensitive administrative functions. The affected files include submitnews.php, usersettings.php, newpost.php, banlist.php, banner.php, cpage.php, download.php, users_extended.php, frontpage.php, links.php, and mailout.php, indicating a widespread issue across the administrative subsystem of the CMS.
The technical nature of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-79, which describes cross-site scripting flaws where untrusted data is improperly incorporated into web page content without proper sanitization or encoding. These XSS vulnerabilities occur when the application fails to validate or escape user-supplied input before rendering it in web responses. The unspecified vectors suggest that the flaw exists in various input handling mechanisms throughout the administrative interfaces, making it difficult for administrators to predict exactly which parameters or fields might be vulnerable. Attackers could exploit these weaknesses by crafting malicious payloads that would execute in the context of other users' browsers, potentially stealing session cookies, modifying content, or redirecting users to malicious sites.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data corruption or information disclosure, as it provides attackers with potential access to administrative functions that control the entire website. When combined with the fact that these vulnerabilities exist in administrative scripts, an attacker could potentially escalate privileges, modify user accounts, delete content, or even install malicious code throughout the system. The overlap with CVE-2004-2040 and CVE-2006-4794 suggests this represents a persistent issue in the e107 codebase that has remained unaddressed across multiple versions. This type of vulnerability directly relates to ATT&CK technique T1566, which involves the exploitation of web applications to gain unauthorized access, and T1059, which covers the execution of malicious code through web interfaces.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate action including upgrading to a patched version of e107, as the vulnerability affects core administrative functionality. Organizations should implement input validation and output encoding across all user-supplied data, particularly in administrative interfaces where the risk is highest. The implementation of Content Security Policy headers can provide additional protection against XSS attacks by restricting the sources from which scripts can be loaded. Regular security audits and code reviews should focus on input validation mechanisms, especially in areas where user data is processed and displayed within administrative panels. Additionally, network segmentation and monitoring of administrative access logs can help detect potential exploitation attempts. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of maintaining current software versions and implementing defense-in-depth strategies to protect critical administrative interfaces from unauthorized access.