CVE-2010-1390 in Safari
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in WebKit in Apple Safari before 5.0 on Mac OS X 10.5 through 10.6 and Windows, and before 4.1 on Mac OS X 10.4, allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via vectors related to improper UTF-7 canonicalization, and lack of termination of a quoted string in an HTML document.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/15/2021
The CVE-2010-1390 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw discovered in Apple Safari web browser versions prior to 5.0 on Mac OS X 10.5 through 10.6 and Windows platforms, as well as versions before 4.1 on Mac OS X 10.4. This vulnerability falls under the CWE-79 category of Cross-Site Scripting, which is a fundamental web application security weakness that allows attackers to inject malicious scripts into web pages viewed by other users. The flaw specifically targets the WebKit rendering engine that powers Safari, making it a significant concern for users of Apple's web browser across multiple operating system versions.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability stems from two primary weaknesses in Safari's HTML parsing implementation. First, the browser fails to properly canonicalize UTF-7 encoded characters, which creates opportunities for attackers to craft malicious input that bypasses normal security checks. This improper UTF-7 canonicalization allows attackers to inject script code that would normally be filtered out by standard security mechanisms. Second, the vulnerability occurs due to inadequate termination of quoted strings within HTML documents, which can lead to malformed HTML parsing that allows arbitrary script execution. These combined weaknesses create a pathway for remote code injection attacks that can be executed through malicious web content.
The operational impact of CVE-2010-1390 extends beyond simple script injection, as it enables attackers to perform a wide range of malicious activities through the compromised browser environment. Attackers could potentially steal user session cookies, redirect users to malicious websites, modify web page content, or even execute arbitrary commands on affected systems. The vulnerability affects users across multiple operating systems and browser versions, making it particularly dangerous as it could impact a large user base simultaneously. This cross-platform nature of the vulnerability means that users on both Mac OS X and Windows platforms were at risk, significantly expanding the potential attack surface.
Security researchers have categorized this vulnerability as a serious threat due to its exploitation potential and the widespread use of Safari browsers. The ATT&CK framework would classify this as a technique involving code injection and web application exploitation, specifically targeting the browser's rendering engine through input validation flaws. Organizations and individual users who relied on Safari for web browsing were exposed to significant risks, particularly in environments where users might encounter untrusted web content or where social engineering attacks could be employed to deliver malicious payloads. The vulnerability demonstrates how seemingly minor parsing issues in web browsers can create substantial security risks that affect millions of users across different platforms and operating systems. Mitigation strategies required immediate browser updates and patches from Apple, while users needed to ensure they were running the latest versions of Safari to protect against exploitation attempts.