CVE-2010-1703 in Polls Script
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities in index_search.php in 2daybiz Polls (aka Advanced Poll) Script allow remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the (1) category parameter or (2) search field.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/07/2025
The CVE-2010-1703 vulnerability affects the 2daybiz Polls script, also known as Advanced Poll, which is a web-based polling application commonly used for gathering user opinions and feedback. This particular vulnerability manifests as multiple cross-site scripting flaws in the index_search.php file, representing a critical security weakness that can be exploited by remote attackers without requiring any authentication or privileged access. The vulnerability impacts the application's input validation mechanisms, specifically failing to properly sanitize user-supplied data before rendering it in web pages, thereby creating opportunities for malicious code injection.
The technical flaw resides in the improper handling of user input parameters within the index_search.php script where the category parameter and search field are not adequately sanitized or escaped before being processed and displayed back to users. This allows attackers to inject malicious HTML or JavaScript code that gets executed in the context of other users' browsers when they view the affected pages. The vulnerability is classified as a classic reflected cross-site scripting issue where the malicious payload is reflected off the web server back to the victim's browser. According to CWE standards, this corresponds to CWE-79 which specifically addresses improper neutralization of input during web page generation, making it a direct implementation of the well-known web application security weakness.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant as it enables attackers to perform various malicious activities including session hijacking, credential theft, defacement of the polling interface, and redirection to malicious websites. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to steal user sessions, inject phishing content, or even escalate privileges if the application has any administrative functionality. The reflected nature of the XSS means that successful exploitation requires social engineering to convince victims to click on malicious links containing the crafted payloads. This vulnerability affects the integrity and confidentiality of user data, potentially compromising the entire polling system's trustworthiness and user privacy.
Organizations using the Advanced Poll script should immediately implement multiple layers of defense to mitigate this vulnerability. The primary mitigation involves input validation and output encoding of all user-supplied data, specifically ensuring that the category parameter and search field values are properly escaped before being rendered in HTML contexts. Implementing Content Security Policy (CSP) headers can provide additional protection against script injection attacks by restricting the sources from which scripts can be loaded. Regular security audits and code reviews should be conducted to identify similar input validation issues throughout the application. According to ATT&CK framework, this vulnerability falls under T1059.007 for script injection techniques and T1531 for credential access through session manipulation. The vulnerability also aligns with OWASP Top Ten 2017 category A03: Injection, specifically addressing the XSS category that has been consistently ranked among the most prevalent web application security risks. System administrators should also consider implementing web application firewalls and monitoring for suspicious patterns in search queries that might indicate attempted exploitation of this vulnerability.