CVE-2013-4718 in Open Ticket Request System
Summary
by MITRE • 08/10/2021
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Open Ticket Request System (OTRS) ITSM 3.0.x before 3.0.9, 3.1.x before 3.1.10, and 3.2.x before 3.2.7 allows remote authenticated users to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via an ITSM ConfigItem search.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/14/2021
The CVE-2013-4718 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw within the Open Ticket Request System (OTRS) ITSM platform, affecting multiple version ranges including 3.0.x before 3.0.9, 3.1.x before 3.1.10, and 3.2.x before 3.2.7. This vulnerability resides in the ITSM ConfigItem search functionality, which serves as a fundamental component for managing and tracking IT assets within enterprise environments. The flaw specifically allows authenticated remote attackers to inject malicious web scripts or HTML code into the system, potentially compromising user sessions and data integrity. The vulnerability's impact extends beyond simple script injection as it can enable attackers to execute arbitrary code within the context of a victim's browser, making it particularly dangerous for organizations relying on OTRS for critical IT service management operations.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through the ConfigItem search feature, which processes user input without proper sanitization or encoding mechanisms. When authenticated users perform searches within the ITSM configuration item management system, malicious input containing script tags or HTML elements can be stored and subsequently executed when other users view the search results. This type of vulnerability maps directly to CWE-79, which defines Cross-Site Scripting as a weakness where untrusted data is incorporated into web pages without proper validation or encoding. The flaw demonstrates a classic insufficient input validation issue where the system fails to properly escape or sanitize user-supplied data before rendering it in the web interface, creating an attack surface that can be leveraged for session hijacking, data theft, or redirection to malicious sites.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability poses significant risks to organizations using OTRS ITSM for their incident management and service desk operations. The authenticated nature of the exploit means that attackers must first gain valid credentials, but once obtained, they can manipulate the system to compromise other users' sessions and access sensitive IT infrastructure information. The impact is particularly severe in enterprise environments where OTRS is used to manage critical IT assets, configuration items, and service requests. Attackers could potentially inject scripts that redirect users to phishing sites, steal session cookies, or execute malicious payloads that could lead to further system compromise. The vulnerability's presence in multiple version streams indicates a persistent flaw in the application's input handling mechanisms that required patching across different release branches, highlighting the importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches in enterprise IT management systems.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including applying the vendor-provided patches for versions 3.0.9, 3.1.10, and 3.2.7 respectively, while also implementing additional security controls such as input validation at the application level and web application firewalls. The remediation process should include comprehensive testing to ensure that the patches do not introduce regressions in system functionality while also conducting security reviews of user input handling mechanisms. Network segmentation and monitoring should be enhanced to detect potential exploitation attempts, and user access controls should be reviewed to limit the scope of potential damage. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566.001 for credential harvesting and T1059.001 for command and scripting interpreter, making it a critical target for security teams to address through both immediate patching and broader security architecture improvements. The incident serves as a reminder of the importance of secure coding practices, particularly in web applications that handle user-generated content, and demonstrates how seemingly minor input validation flaws can have significant security implications in enterprise IT management systems.