CVE-2013-2670 in Mfc-9970cdw
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the Brother MFC-9970CDW printer with firmware G (1.03) and L (1.10) allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via an arbitrary parameter name (QUERY_STRING) to admin/admin_main.html, a different vulnerability than CVE-2013-2507 and CVE-2013-2671.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/08/2026
The CVE-2013-2670 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw discovered in Brother MFC-9970CDW multifunction printers running specific firmware versions. This vulnerability exists within the web-based administration interface of the device, specifically targeting the admin/admin_main.html page. The flaw stems from insufficient input validation mechanisms that fail to properly sanitize user-supplied parameters within the query string of HTTP requests. Attackers can exploit this weakness by crafting malicious HTTP requests containing arbitrary parameter names that are then reflected back to users without proper sanitization or encoding, creating a persistent XSS vector.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through manipulation of the QUERY_STRING parameter within HTTP requests sent to the printer's web interface. When the printer processes these requests, it fails to properly validate or escape the parameter names before rendering them in the web page output. This allows an attacker to inject malicious JavaScript code or HTML content that gets executed in the context of other users who view the affected web page. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it affects the administrative interface of a networked printer, which often has elevated privileges and can potentially be used to escalate attacks within a corporate network environment.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability presents significant security risks for organizations utilizing affected Brother printers. The remote nature of the attack means that threat actors can exploit this vulnerability from outside the local network without requiring physical access to the device. Successful exploitation could allow attackers to steal session cookies, redirect users to malicious websites, deface the printer's web interface, or even execute arbitrary commands on the device. The vulnerability's presence in the administrative interface particularly amplifies the risk since it could potentially provide attackers with access to printer configuration settings, user data, or other sensitive information stored within the device's memory.
Organizations should immediately implement network segmentation to isolate affected printers from critical network segments and apply firmware updates from Brother to address this vulnerability. The mitigation strategy should include monitoring network traffic for suspicious parameter patterns and implementing web application firewalls that can detect and block malicious query string parameters. Additionally, administrators should disable unnecessary web services on networked printers and ensure that only authorized personnel have access to the printer's administrative interface. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-79 which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws in web applications, and follows ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for script execution through web interfaces. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of input validation in embedded web interfaces and highlights the need for comprehensive security testing of networked devices in enterprise environments.