CVE-2011-1841 in Mojolicious
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the link_to helper in Mojolicious before 1.12 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via unspecified vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/05/2021
The CVE-2011-1841 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw within the Mojolicious web framework's link_to helper functionality prior to version 1.12. This vulnerability falls under the CWE-79 category of Cross-Site Scripting, which is one of the most prevalent and dangerous web application security weaknesses. The issue specifically affects the link_to helper component that is commonly used to generate HTML anchor tags in web applications built with Mojolicious, making it a fundamental component that could be exploited across numerous applications.
The technical flaw stems from insufficient input validation and output encoding within the link_to helper implementation. When developers use this helper to generate links in their Mojolicious applications, the helper fails to properly sanitize user-supplied data that gets incorporated into the generated HTML output. This allows attackers to inject malicious scripts or HTML content through parameters that are passed to the helper function, without proper sanitization or encoding measures. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because the link_to helper is a core component frequently used throughout web applications, making the attack surface extensive and the potential impact widespread.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant as it enables remote attackers to execute arbitrary JavaScript code in the context of affected users' browsers. Attackers can leverage this weakness to perform session hijacking, steal sensitive information, deface web pages, or redirect users to malicious sites. The attack vectors are particularly insidious because they can be triggered through various means including user profile inputs, URL parameters, or any data that gets processed through the vulnerable helper function. This vulnerability essentially undermines the security of entire web applications that rely on Mojolicious framework components, potentially allowing attackers to compromise user sessions and access sensitive data.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2011-1841 primarily focus on upgrading to Mojolicious version 1.12 or later, where the vulnerability has been addressed through proper input sanitization and output encoding mechanisms. Organizations should implement comprehensive input validation at multiple layers of their applications, ensuring that all user-supplied data is properly escaped before being incorporated into HTML output. The implementation of Content Security Policy (CSP) headers can provide an additional defensive layer against XSS attacks. Security teams should also conduct thorough code reviews focusing on helper functions and templating components, as recommended by ATT&CK framework's T1068 technique for privilege escalation through web application vulnerabilities. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning should be implemented to identify similar issues in other framework components or custom code that may be susceptible to similar cross-site scripting attacks.