CVE-2012-5296 in Guestbook
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities in Mavili Guestbook, as released in November 2007, allow remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the id parameter to (1) approve.asp, (2) delete.asp, (3) edit.asp, or (4) edit2.asp.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/16/2019
The CVE-2012-5296 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw in Mavili Guestbook version released in November 2007, demonstrating a classic input validation weakness that has persisted in web applications for decades. This vulnerability specifically targets four distinct server-side script files including approve.asp, delete.asp, edit.asp, and edit2.asp, all of which fail to properly sanitize user input before processing. The flaw occurs when the application accepts the id parameter without adequate filtering or encoding, allowing malicious actors to inject arbitrary HTML or JavaScript code that executes in the context of other users' browsers.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from the application's failure to implement proper input sanitization mechanisms, which directly maps to CWE-79 - Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation. The vulnerability operates by accepting user-supplied id parameters that are then directly incorporated into server responses without appropriate HTML escaping or context-aware encoding. This creates an environment where attackers can craft malicious payloads that, when processed by the vulnerable application, execute in the browsers of unsuspecting users who visit affected pages.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents a significant risk to web application security as it allows remote attackers to perform a wide range of malicious activities including session hijacking, credential theft, data exfiltration, and defacement of the guestbook content. The impact extends beyond simple XSS execution since the vulnerability affects multiple administrative functions within the application, potentially enabling attackers to manipulate guestbook entries, delete content, or approve malicious submissions. According to ATT&CK framework category T1059.001 - Command and Scripting Interpreter, this vulnerability enables adversaries to execute arbitrary code in user browsers, which can be leveraged for more sophisticated attacks such as credential harvesting through form submissions or redirection to malicious sites.
The exploitation of this vulnerability typically involves crafting specially formatted id parameters containing malicious JavaScript payloads that are then executed when the affected ASP pages process the input. Attackers can leverage this flaw to create persistent XSS attacks that remain active as long as the vulnerable application remains operational, making it particularly dangerous for applications with high user interaction rates. The vulnerability's persistence across multiple endpoints within the same application indicates a systemic lack of input validation across the entire web application architecture, suggesting that additional vulnerabilities may exist within the same codebase. Organizations should implement comprehensive input validation, output encoding, and proper parameter sanitization techniques to mitigate this class of vulnerability, following security best practices established in OWASP Top Ten and NIST Cybersecurity Framework guidelines to prevent similar issues in modern web applications.