CVE-2012-0872 in OxWall
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities in OxWall 1.1.1 and earlier allow remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the (1) captchaField, (2) email, (3) form_name, (4) password, (5) realname, (6) repeatPassword, or (7) username parameters to Oxwall/join; (8) captcha, (9) email, (10) form_name, (11) from, or (12) subject parameters to Oxwall/contact; (13) tag parameter to Oxwall/blogs/browse-by-tag; or (14) PATH_INFO to Oxwall/photo/viewlist/tagged, (15) Oxwall/photo/viewlist, or (16) Oxwall/video/viewlist.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/16/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2012-0872 represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw affecting OxWall versions 1.1.1 and earlier, constituting a significant security risk for web applications. This vulnerability resides within the input validation mechanisms of the platform, specifically targeting multiple parameters across various endpoints that process user-submitted data without proper sanitization or encoding. The flaw allows remote attackers to inject malicious scripts or HTML content that can be executed in the context of other users' browsers, potentially leading to session hijacking, credential theft, or unauthorized actions performed on behalf of victims.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability spans across multiple attack vectors within the OxWall application framework, demonstrating poor input handling practices throughout the codebase. Attackers can exploit parameters such as captchaField, email, form_name, password, realname, repeatPassword, and username in the join endpoint, or utilize captcha, email, form_name, from, and subject parameters in the contact endpoint. Additionally, the vulnerability extends to tag parameter usage in blogs/browse-by-tag, and PATH_INFO parameters in photo/viewlist/tagged, photo/viewlist, and video/viewlist endpoints. These attack vectors collectively represent a comprehensive XSS exposure that bypasses standard security controls designed to protect against malicious input manipulation.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability creates severe consequences for both end users and system administrators. The ability to inject scripts into user sessions can lead to complete compromise of user accounts, enabling attackers to perform actions such as changing passwords, accessing private data, or posting malicious content. The vulnerability's widespread nature across multiple endpoints increases the attack surface significantly, making it easier for threat actors to find successful exploitation paths. According to CWE classification, this represents a CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation, which is a fundamental web application security weakness that directly enables XSS attacks.
The exploitation of this vulnerability aligns with several ATT&CK techniques including T1566.001 (Phishing with Social Engineering) and T1059.007 (Command and Scripting Interpreter: JavaScript), as attackers can leverage the XSS flaw to deliver malicious JavaScript payloads that can harvest user credentials or redirect victims to malicious sites. The impact extends beyond immediate user compromise to potential data exfiltration and persistent access through session manipulation. Security professionals should recognize this vulnerability as a prime example of how inadequate input validation in web applications can create persistent security weaknesses that can be exploited across multiple functional areas.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2012-0872 must focus on implementing robust input validation and output encoding mechanisms across all user-facing parameters. Organizations should immediately upgrade to OxWall versions that address this vulnerability, as the affected versions lack proper sanitization controls. The implementation of Content Security Policy headers, proper HTML encoding of user inputs, and comprehensive parameter validation should be enforced throughout the application. Additionally, regular security audits should be conducted to identify similar input validation flaws in other web applications, as this vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of maintaining secure coding practices. The remediation process should include thorough testing of all user input handling mechanisms to ensure that no similar XSS vulnerabilities remain within the application infrastructure.