CVE-2012-2935 in Online Merchant
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in osCommerce/OM/Core/Site/Shop/Application/Checkout/pages/main.php in OSCommerce Online Merchant 3.0.2 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the value_title parameter, a different vulnerability than CVE-2012-1059.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/03/2021
The CVE-2012-2935 vulnerability represents a cross-site scripting flaw discovered in the osCommerce Online Merchant 3.0.2 web application platform. This vulnerability specifically affects the Shop application's checkout module, targeting the main.php page that handles checkout operations. The flaw resides in how the application processes the value_title parameter, which is used to display product titles or other textual content within the checkout workflow. This issue falls under the CWE-79 category of Cross-Site Scripting, representing a critical security weakness that enables malicious actors to execute unauthorized scripts in the context of affected users' browsers.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs when remote attackers manipulate the value_title parameter through HTTP requests to the checkout page. When the application fails to properly sanitize or escape user-supplied input before rendering it in the web interface, malicious scripts can be injected and executed when other users view the affected checkout pages. This allows attackers to perform various malicious activities including session hijacking, credential theft, defacement of the online store, or redirection to malicious websites. The vulnerability is distinct from CVE-2012-1059, indicating it represents a separate code path or input handling mechanism within the application's checkout functionality.
From an operational perspective, this XSS vulnerability poses significant risks to both the online merchant and its customers. Attackers could exploit this flaw to steal customer session cookies, potentially gaining unauthorized access to user accounts and personal information. The vulnerability could also be used to inject malicious advertisements or redirect customers to phishing sites that mimic the legitimate online store. Additionally, the compromise of customer data could result in regulatory penalties under data protection laws, loss of customer trust, and potential legal consequences for the merchant. The impact extends beyond immediate financial loss to include long-term reputational damage and increased security overhead for the organization.
Organizations utilizing OSCommerce 3.0.2 should implement immediate mitigations including input validation and output encoding for all user-supplied parameters. The recommended approach involves implementing proper HTML escaping mechanisms for the value_title parameter and other similar inputs before rendering them in web pages. Security patches should be applied promptly to address this vulnerability, and developers should adopt secure coding practices that prevent XSS through proper input sanitization and context-aware output encoding. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566.001 for initial access through web application attacks and T1547.009 for privilege escalation through session hijacking. Organizations should also consider implementing Content Security Policy headers and regular security scanning to detect similar vulnerabilities in their web applications.