CVE-2009-4972 in SimpleID
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in index.php (aka the log in page) in SimpleID before 0.6.5 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the s parameter.
VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/28/2017
The vulnerability described in CVE-2009-4972 represents a classic cross-site scripting flaw that specifically targets the authentication interface of SimpleID version 0.6.4 and earlier. This type of vulnerability falls under the CWE-79 category of Cross-Site Scripting, which is one of the most prevalent and dangerous web application security issues. The vulnerability exists within the index.php file, which serves as the primary login page for the SimpleID identity management system, making it a critical attack vector that could potentially compromise user authentication and session management.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability occurs through the improper handling of user input in the s parameter of the login page. When an attacker submits malicious content through this parameter, the application fails to properly sanitize or encode the input before rendering it back to the user's browser. This allows attackers to inject arbitrary HTML or JavaScript code that executes in the context of other users' sessions. The flaw specifically affects the authentication page, which means that any user attempting to log in could unknowingly execute malicious code that could steal session cookies, redirect users to phishing sites, or perform other malicious actions within the victim's browser context.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data theft, as it directly compromises the integrity of the authentication system. Attackers could exploit this weakness to hijack user sessions, gain unauthorized access to protected resources, or manipulate the login process itself. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it targets the login page, which is often the first point of interaction for users and typically contains sensitive authentication information. This makes it an ideal target for credential theft attacks, as users are more likely to enter their credentials on pages they trust, unaware that malicious code has been injected into the page itself. According to ATT&CK framework, this vulnerability maps to T1566.001 (Phishing: Spearphishing Attachment) and T1071.001 (Application Layer Protocol: Web Protocols) as attackers could use this to establish persistent access through compromised credentials.
The security implications of CVE-2009-4972 demonstrate the critical importance of input validation and output encoding in web applications, particularly those handling authentication flows. SimpleID's failure to properly sanitize the s parameter represents a fundamental breakdown in the application's security architecture, as it assumes that all input from users is safe and properly formatted. This vulnerability highlights the necessity of implementing comprehensive security measures such as proper parameter validation, HTML encoding of output, and the use of secure coding practices that prevent injection attacks. The remediation for this specific vulnerability required developers to implement proper input sanitization and output encoding mechanisms, ensuring that any user-supplied data passed through the s parameter would be properly escaped before being rendered back to the browser. The fix would typically involve implementing a whitelist-based validation approach or using established encoding libraries to neutralize potentially malicious input before it could be processed by the application's rendering engine, thereby preventing the execution of unauthorized scripts in the user's browser context.