CVE-2013-2137 in Open For Business Project
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the "View Log" screen in the Webtools application in Apache Open For Business Project (aka OFBiz) 10.04.01 through 10.04.05, 11.04.01 through 11.04.02, and 12.04.01 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via unspecified vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/25/2018
The CVE-2013-2137 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw discovered in the Apache Open For Business Project's Webtools application. This vulnerability specifically affects the "View Log" screen functionality and impacts multiple versions of the OFBiz platform including 10.04.01 through 10.04.05, 11.04.01 through 11.04.02, and 12.04.01. The 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 inject malicious scripts into web pages viewed by other users. The flaw enables remote attackers to execute arbitrary web scripts or HTML code through unspecified vectors, making it particularly dangerous as it can be exploited without requiring any special privileges or authentication.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and output encoding within the Webtools application's logging interface. When users access the "View Log" screen, the application fails to properly sanitize user-supplied data that may be present in log entries or related parameters. This insufficient sanitization allows malicious actors to inject script code that gets executed in the context of other users' browsers when they view the log information. The vulnerability's impact is significant because log files often contain sensitive operational data, system information, and user activities that when compromised can provide attackers with extensive insights into the target environment. The unspecified vectors suggest that multiple input points within the log viewing functionality could be exploited, making the attack surface broader than typical XSS vulnerabilities.
From an operational standpoint, this vulnerability creates substantial risk for organizations using Apache OFBiz as their business platform. Attackers could leverage this flaw to steal session cookies, redirect users to malicious sites, deface web pages, or perform actions on behalf of authenticated users. The attack requires no authentication and can be executed remotely, making it particularly attractive to threat actors. The potential for privilege escalation exists if attackers can manipulate log entries to include malicious code that targets administrators or users with elevated permissions. This vulnerability directly aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566.001 for Phishing and T1059.001 for Command and Scripting Interpreter, as it enables both social engineering attacks through malicious payloads and code execution within user browsers. Organizations with extensive logging systems or those that expose log viewing functionality to multiple user roles face the highest risk.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2013-2137 should focus on immediate patching of affected OFBiz versions to the latest releases that contain proper input validation and output encoding fixes. Organizations should implement comprehensive input sanitization measures that properly encode all user-supplied data before rendering it in web interfaces, particularly within log viewing screens. Web application firewalls and security monitoring tools should be configured to detect and block suspicious script injection attempts. Regular security assessments and code reviews should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities in other application components. The remediation approach should follow the principle of least privilege by restricting access to log viewing functionality to authorized personnel only. Additionally, implementing Content Security Policy headers can provide an additional layer of protection against script execution. Organizations should also consider establishing proper logging and monitoring procedures to detect potential exploitation attempts and maintain audit trails of all access to log viewing interfaces.