CVE-2011-1856 in Business Availability Center
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in HP Business Availability Center (BAC) 8.06 and earlier allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via unspecified vectors.
If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/22/2018
The CVE-2011-1856 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw discovered in HP Business Availability Center version 8.06 and earlier releases. This vulnerability resides within the web application layer of the HP BAC platform, which is designed to monitor and manage business availability and performance metrics across enterprise environments. The affected system processes user input through various web interfaces and administrative consoles, making it susceptible to malicious injection attacks that could compromise the integrity of the entire monitoring infrastructure.
This XSS vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and output encoding mechanisms within the HP BAC web application components. The unspecified attack vectors suggest that multiple entry points within the application could be exploited, potentially including form fields, URL parameters, or API endpoints that handle user-supplied data. The vulnerability allows remote attackers to inject malicious JavaScript code or HTML content that executes within the context of other users' browsers who interact with the compromised system. The flaw demonstrates a classic lack of proper sanitization and validation of user-provided content before rendering it in web responses.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data theft or defacement, as it could enable attackers to escalate privileges, access sensitive monitoring data, or manipulate business availability reports. Given that HP BAC systems typically handle critical business performance metrics and availability monitoring data, an attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability could gain unauthorized access to confidential business information, potentially affecting business continuity and operational decision-making processes. The remote nature of the attack means that exploitation can occur from any location without requiring physical access to the target system or network infrastructure.
Security professionals should consider this vulnerability in the context of the CWE-79 weakness category, which specifically addresses cross-site scripting vulnerabilities resulting from insufficient input validation and output encoding. The ATT&CK framework would classify this as a web application attack vector under the technique of "Command and Control" or "Persistence" when attackers establish footholds through web-based exploitation. Organizations should implement comprehensive mitigations including input validation, output encoding, and regular security assessments of their HP BAC installations. Additionally, network segmentation and monitoring solutions should be deployed to detect anomalous traffic patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability highlights the importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches and implementing robust web application security controls to prevent similar issues in enterprise monitoring platforms.