CVE-2010-3243 in SharePoint
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the toStaticHTML function in Microsoft Internet Explorer 8, and the SafeHTML function in Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 SP2 and Office SharePoint Server 2007 SP2, allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via unspecified vectors, aka "HTML Sanitization Vulnerability."
VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/18/2024
The CVE-2010-3243 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw in Microsoft's web sanitization functions that affected Internet Explorer 8 and SharePoint Server 2007 environments. This vulnerability resides in the toStaticHTML function within Internet Explorer 8 and the SafeHTML function in SharePoint Services 3.0 SP2 and Office SharePoint Server 2007 SP2, creating a significant security gap that could be exploited by remote attackers to execute malicious scripts in victim browsers. The flaw specifically impacts the HTML sanitization process that is designed to prevent malicious content from being rendered in web applications, making it particularly dangerous as it undermines fundamental security measures intended to protect users from script injection attacks.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and sanitization within Microsoft's HTML processing functions. When these functions encounter specially crafted input containing malicious script tags or HTML elements, they fail to properly sanitize the content, allowing potentially harmful code to pass through the filtering mechanisms. The vulnerability affects unspecified vectors, which means attackers can exploit various methods to deliver malicious payloads including user input fields, URL parameters, or content submitted through SharePoint forms. This broad attack surface increases the exploitability of the vulnerability and makes it challenging to defend against using traditional input validation approaches. According to CWE classification, this represents a weakness in the sanitization of input data, specifically CWE-79 which covers cross-site scripting vulnerabilities that occur when untrusted data is directly included in web pages without proper validation or escaping.
The operational impact of CVE-2010-3243 is severe for organizations relying on Microsoft SharePoint environments and Internet Explorer 8 browsers. Attackers could leverage this vulnerability to execute arbitrary scripts in the context of the victim's browser, potentially leading to session hijacking, credential theft, or redirection to malicious websites. The vulnerability particularly affects enterprise environments where SharePoint serves as a collaboration platform, as it could allow attackers to compromise user sessions and gain unauthorized access to sensitive corporate information. Organizations using SharePoint Server 2007 SP2 and Office SharePoint Server 2007 SP2 were especially vulnerable since these versions lacked proper input sanitization mechanisms, while Internet Explorer 8 users faced the risk of exploitation through web-based attacks that could bypass security controls designed to prevent such attacks. The vulnerability also aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.007 which covers scripting through web shells, as malicious scripts could be injected and executed within the browser context.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate action from affected organizations, including applying Microsoft security patches and updates to address the underlying sanitization flaws in both Internet Explorer 8 and SharePoint Server 2007 environments. Organizations should implement additional defensive measures such as enhanced input validation at multiple layers of their applications, implementing Content Security Policy headers to restrict script execution, and deploying web application firewalls to detect and block malicious payloads. Network-level protections should include monitoring for suspicious web traffic patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts, while application-level protections should enforce strict output encoding for all user-generated content. Security teams should also consider implementing browser security enhancements such as IE8's built-in XSS filtering mechanisms and ensure proper configuration of SharePoint's security settings to prevent unauthorized content injection. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches and highlights the critical need for organizations to regularly assess their security posture, particularly in legacy systems that may not receive continued support or updates from vendors.