CVE-2014-0339 in Webmin
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in view.cgi in Webmin before 1.680 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the search parameter.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/08/2026
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-0339 represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw located within the view.cgi component of Webmin software versions prior to 1.680. This vulnerability exposes systems running affected Webmin versions to potential exploitation by remote attackers who can manipulate the search parameter to inject malicious web scripts or HTML code. The flaw resides in how the application processes user input through the search functionality without proper sanitization or validation measures, creating an avenue for attackers to execute arbitrary code within the context of a victim's browser session.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability demonstrates a classic XSS attack vector where the search parameter in view.cgi fails to properly encode or escape user-supplied data before incorporating it into dynamic web content. This lack of input validation allows an attacker to craft malicious payloads that, when processed by the vulnerable Webmin interface, get executed in the browsers of unsuspecting users who view the search results. The vulnerability specifically affects the web-based administration interface of Webmin, which is commonly used for system administration tasks across various operating systems including linux and unix platforms, making it a significant concern for organizations relying on this software for server management.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability creates substantial risk for organizations as it enables attackers to potentially steal session cookies, perform unauthorized actions on behalf of users, redirect victims to malicious websites, or extract sensitive information from the targeted systems. The attack requires minimal privileges since it operates entirely through web-based interfaces without requiring direct system access or authentication. The vulnerability affects the integrity and confidentiality of web-based administrative sessions, potentially allowing attackers to escalate privileges or gain persistent access to systems managed through Webmin. This issue aligns with CWE-79 which categorizes cross-site scripting vulnerabilities as a fundamental web application security weakness, and can be mapped to ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for script execution through web interfaces.
The remediation approach for this vulnerability centers on upgrading to Webmin version 1.680 or later, which includes proper input sanitization and output encoding mechanisms for the search parameter handling. Organizations should implement comprehensive patch management procedures to ensure all Webmin installations are updated promptly. Additional mitigations include implementing proper web application firewalls, deploying content security policies to restrict script execution, and conducting regular security assessments of web-based administrative interfaces. Network segmentation and least privilege access controls should be enforced to limit the potential impact of successful exploitation attempts. Security monitoring should be enhanced to detect suspicious search queries or unusual patterns in web application traffic that might indicate exploitation attempts against this or similar vulnerabilities.