CVE-2014-4540 in Oleggo LiveStream
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in oleggo-twitter/twitter_login_form.php in the Oleggo LiveStream plugin 0.2.6 and earlier for WordPress allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the msg parameter.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/12/2018
The CVE-2014-4540 vulnerability represents a classic cross-site scripting flaw within the Oleggo LiveStream WordPress plugin version 0.2.6 and earlier. This vulnerability exists in the twitter_login_form.php file where user input is not properly sanitized or validated before being rendered back to the browser. The specific parameter affected is the msg parameter, which serves as an entry point for malicious actors to inject arbitrary web scripts or HTML content into the plugin's output. The vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation mechanisms that fail to strip or encode potentially dangerous characters that could be interpreted as executable code by web browsers.
From a technical perspective, this XSS vulnerability operates under CWE-79 which classifies it as a failure to sanitize or properly encode user-supplied data before incorporating it into dynamically generated web content. The flaw allows attackers to execute malicious scripts in the context of the victim's browser session, potentially leading to session hijacking, credential theft, or redirection to malicious sites. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it affects a widely used WordPress plugin, meaning that compromised sites could be exploited to target visitors with various malicious payloads including phishing attacks, defacement scripts, or malware distribution mechanisms.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script injection as it creates a persistent threat vector that can be leveraged for extended attack campaigns. Attackers can craft malicious msg parameter values that, when processed by the vulnerable plugin, will execute in the browsers of unsuspecting users who visit affected WordPress sites. This creates a propagation mechanism where a single compromised plugin installation can affect numerous visitors across multiple domains. The vulnerability also aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566 which describes the use of malicious content to gain initial access through social engineering or by exploiting web application vulnerabilities.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2014-4540 should prioritize immediate patching of the affected WordPress plugin to version 0.2.7 or later, which contains the necessary input validation fixes. Organizations should implement comprehensive input sanitization measures that encode special characters and validate all user-supplied data before processing. Additionally, network monitoring should be enhanced to detect suspicious parameter values being submitted to known vulnerable endpoints. Security headers such as Content Security Policy should be implemented to provide additional protection against XSS attacks by restricting the sources from which scripts can be executed. Regular security audits of WordPress plugins and themes are essential to identify and remediate similar vulnerabilities before they can be exploited by threat actors.