CVE-2013-1742 in Bugzilla
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities in editflagtypes.cgi in Bugzilla 2.x, 3.x, and 4.0.x before 4.0.11; 4.1.x and 4.2.x before 4.2.7; and 4.3.x and 4.4.x before 4.4.1 allow remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the (1) id or (2) sortkey parameter.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/07/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2013-1742 represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw affecting multiple versions of the Bugzilla bug tracking system. This vulnerability resides within the editflagtypes.cgi component and impacts versions spanning from 2.x through 4.4.1, specifically affecting the 4.0.x series before 4.0.11, 4.1.x and 4.2.x series before 4.2.7, and 4.3.x and 4.4.x series before 4.4.1. The flaw enables remote attackers to inject malicious web scripts or HTML code into the application's response, potentially compromising user sessions and data integrity. This vulnerability falls under the CWE-79 category of Cross-Site Scripting, which is classified as a fundamental web application security weakness that allows attackers to execute scripts in the context of other users. The vulnerability specifically affects the id and sortkey parameters within the editflagtypes.cgi script, making it particularly dangerous as these parameters are commonly used for administrative operations within the bug tracking system.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs when user-supplied input from the id and sortkey parameters is not properly sanitized or escaped before being rendered in the web page response. Attackers can craft malicious payloads that, when processed by the vulnerable Bugzilla instance, get executed in the browsers of unsuspecting users who visit affected pages. This type of vulnerability enables a range of malicious activities including session hijacking, credential theft, redirection to malicious sites, and potential data exfiltration. The impact extends beyond simple script execution as it can lead to complete compromise of user accounts and potentially the entire Bugzilla installation if attackers can leverage the XSS to escalate privileges or gain deeper system access. The vulnerability is particularly concerning in enterprise environments where Bugzilla serves as a critical collaboration platform for software development teams, as it can be exploited to gain unauthorized access to sensitive project information and development data.
The operational impact of CVE-2013-1742 is significant for organizations relying on vulnerable Bugzilla installations, as it creates a persistent attack surface that can be exploited by threat actors without requiring any special privileges or access to the system. The vulnerability affects the administrative functionality of Bugzilla, meaning that an attacker could potentially manipulate flag types and their associated metadata, leading to confusion in bug tracking processes and possible denial of service conditions. From an attacker's perspective, this vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566.001 for Initial Access through Web Application Exploitation, and could potentially lead to T1078 for Valid Accounts exploitation if successful authentication tokens are captured. Organizations using vulnerable versions face the risk of unauthorized code execution, data manipulation, and potential lateral movement within their network infrastructure. The vulnerability's persistence across multiple major versions indicates a fundamental flaw in input validation that required multiple patch releases to address, highlighting the importance of regular security updates and vulnerability management processes.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2013-1742 focus primarily on immediate patching of affected Bugzilla versions to the latest stable releases that contain the necessary security fixes. Organizations should implement comprehensive input validation and output encoding mechanisms to prevent similar vulnerabilities in custom applications built on or similar to Bugzilla's architecture. The implementation of Content Security Policy headers can provide additional protection layers against XSS attacks, though this serves as a supplementary defense rather than a complete solution. Security teams should conduct thorough vulnerability assessments of their Bugzilla installations and related web applications to identify any other potential XSS vulnerabilities that may exist in their environment. Regular security monitoring and incident response procedures should be established to detect and respond to exploitation attempts. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls and security scanning tools to provide additional layers of protection for their web applications. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date software versions and the necessity of robust security practices in preventing exploitation of known vulnerabilities.