CVE-2013-5501 in MediaSense
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the oraservice page in Cisco MediaSense allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via an unspecified parameter, aka Bug ID CSCuj23328.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/07/2022
The CVE-2013-5501 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw discovered in Cisco MediaSense's oraservice page component. This vulnerability falls under the broader category of web application security weaknesses that enable malicious actors to execute unauthorized scripts within the context of a user's browser session. The vulnerability specifically affects the oraservice page functionality within Cisco MediaSense, which is designed to handle media-related services and data processing for network infrastructure monitoring and management purposes. The flaw arises from inadequate input validation and output encoding mechanisms that fail to properly sanitize user-supplied data before processing or rendering within web responses.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through an unspecified parameter within the oraservice page that does not adequately filter or escape user-provided input. When a remote attacker crafts malicious input containing script code and submits it through this vulnerable parameter, the application processes the input without proper sanitization measures. This allows the malicious payload to be executed within the browser context of legitimate users who access the affected page. The vulnerability demonstrates a classic XSS attack vector where attacker-controlled content flows directly into the web application's output without appropriate security controls to prevent script execution. The flaw essentially permits the injection of arbitrary web script or HTML code, which can compromise user sessions, steal sensitive information, or redirect users to malicious websites.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability poses significant risks to organizations utilizing Cisco MediaSense for network monitoring and management. The remote attack surface means that threat actors can exploit this vulnerability without requiring physical access or local network privileges, making it particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where such monitoring tools are extensively deployed. The impact extends beyond simple script injection, as successful exploitation could lead to session hijacking, data exfiltration, or further lateral movement within the network infrastructure. The vulnerability affects the integrity and confidentiality of the monitoring data processed by MediaSense, potentially compromising the security posture of the entire network monitoring ecosystem. Organizations relying on this platform for critical infrastructure monitoring face substantial risk of unauthorized access and data compromise.
Security mitigations for CVE-2013-5501 should focus on implementing proper input validation and output encoding mechanisms throughout the application's codebase. Organizations must ensure that all user-supplied parameters are thoroughly validated and sanitized before processing, with particular attention to the oraservice page and its parameter handling logic. The implementation of Content Security Policy headers can provide additional defense-in-depth measures to prevent script execution, while regular security code reviews and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities. Cisco has released patches and updates addressing this vulnerability, and organizations should prioritize applying these security updates to maintain protection against exploitation attempts. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-79 which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws, and from an ATT&CK framework perspective, this represents a technique categorized under T1059.007 for command and script injection, highlighting the need for comprehensive application security controls and regular vulnerability assessment procedures to prevent such exploitation vectors from compromising network infrastructure monitoring systems.