CVE-2010-1760 in WebKit
Summary
by MITRE
loader/DocumentThreadableLoader.cpp in the XMLHttpRequest implementation in WebCore in WebKit before r58409 does not properly handle credentials during a cross-origin synchronous request, which has unspecified impact and remote attack vectors, aka rdar problem 7905150.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/30/2025
The vulnerability described in CVE-2010-1760 resides within the XMLHttpRequest implementation of WebKit's WebCore component, specifically in the DocumentThreadableLoader.cpp file. This flaw manifests in versions of WebKit prior to revision r58409 and represents a critical security issue that affects how the browser handles authentication credentials during cross-origin synchronous requests. The vulnerability was originally documented under Apple's internal radar identifier rdar problem 7905150, indicating its discovery within Apple's development environment before broader public disclosure.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability stems from improper credential handling mechanisms within WebKit's cross-origin request processing pipeline. During synchronous cross-origin XMLHttpRequest operations, the implementation fails to correctly manage authentication tokens and credentials that should be transmitted to the target origin. This improper handling creates a scenario where sensitive authentication information may be inadvertently exposed or mishandled during the request process, potentially allowing malicious actors to exploit this weakness to access resources that should be protected by authentication mechanisms.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends across multiple attack vectors and can be leveraged by remote adversaries to perform unauthorized access attempts. The unspecified nature of the impact suggests that this flaw could potentially enable various types of attacks including credential theft, unauthorized data access, or privilege escalation depending on the specific implementation details of the affected web applications. Attackers could craft malicious web pages that utilize cross-origin synchronous requests to harvest credentials from legitimate web applications, particularly those that rely on authentication mechanisms such as cookies, basic authentication, or token-based authentication systems.
This vulnerability aligns with several cybersecurity frameworks and threat modeling concepts including CWE-284 (Improper Access Control) and CWE-345 (Insufficient Verification of Data Authenticity). The flaw demonstrates characteristics consistent with the attack pattern described in the MITRE ATT&CK framework under T1071.001 (Application Layer Protocol: Web Protocols) and T1566 (Phishing) as it could be exploited through malicious web content delivery. The cross-origin request handling mechanism represents a critical point of failure in the browser's security model, where the expected behavior of credential isolation between origins is violated.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate patching of affected WebKit implementations to the revision r58409 or later, which contains the necessary fixes for proper credential handling during cross-origin synchronous requests. System administrators should also implement additional network-level protections such as Content Security Policy (CSP) headers that restrict cross-origin resource sharing and limit the exposure of sensitive data. Organizations should conduct comprehensive vulnerability assessments to identify applications that may be vulnerable to this type of attack and implement proper authentication verification mechanisms to prevent unauthorized access to protected resources. The fix typically involves ensuring that authentication credentials are properly stripped or handled according to web security standards during cross-origin request processing, preventing the leakage of sensitive information through unintended credential transmission.