CVE-2014-4719 in User-Friendly SVN
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the login panel (svn/login/) in User-Friendly SVN (aka USVN) before 1.0.7 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the username field.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/24/2022
The CVE-2014-4719 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw discovered in User-Friendly SVN (USVN) version 1.0.6 and earlier. This vulnerability specifically affects the login panel component located at svn/login/ within the application's web interface. The flaw resides in the improper handling of user input within the username field, creating an avenue for malicious actors to execute arbitrary web scripts or HTML code within the context of authenticated user sessions. This type of vulnerability falls under the CWE-79 category of Cross-Site Scripting, which is classified as a fundamental web application security weakness that enables attackers to inject client-side scripts into web pages viewed by other users. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it targets the authentication mechanism, potentially allowing attackers to compromise user sessions or redirect users to malicious sites.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs when an attacker submits malicious input through the username field during the login process. The application fails to properly sanitize or encode the user-supplied data before rendering it back to the browser, allowing the injected script to execute within the victim's browser context. This creates a persistent XSS vector that can be leveraged for session hijacking, credential theft, or redirection to phishing sites. The attack requires no special privileges and can be executed remotely, making it particularly dangerous in environments where users may be authenticated to sensitive repositories. According to ATT&CK framework, this vulnerability maps to T1059.007 for Command and Scripting Interpreter: JavaScript and T1531 for Account Access Removal, as it enables unauthorized access to user sessions and potential privilege escalation through session manipulation.
The operational impact of CVE-2014-4719 extends beyond simple script injection, as it fundamentally undermines the security of the entire SVN authentication system. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability can potentially steal session cookies, redirect authenticated users to malicious sites, or inject malicious code that persists across multiple user sessions. This poses significant risks to version control systems that store sensitive source code, configuration files, and potentially proprietary information. The vulnerability affects not only individual users but also organizational security posture, as compromised user sessions can lead to unauthorized access to repositories, code manipulation, or data exfiltration. Organizations relying on USVN for source code management face potential exposure to advanced persistent threats that could exploit this weakness to maintain long-term access to their development environments.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2014-4719 primarily focus on implementing proper input validation and output encoding mechanisms. Organizations should immediately upgrade to USVN version 1.0.7 or later, where the vulnerability has been patched through improved sanitization of user inputs. Additionally, implementing Content Security Policy headers can provide an additional layer of protection against XSS attacks by restricting script execution within the application. The implementation of proper input validation techniques, including HTML encoding of user-supplied data before rendering, should be enforced throughout the application's input handling processes. Security monitoring should include detection of suspicious login attempts and unusual user behavior patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. From a defensive perspective, organizations should consider implementing web application firewalls that can detect and block known XSS attack patterns, while also conducting regular security assessments of their version control systems to identify similar vulnerabilities in other components. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of input sanitization in authentication mechanisms and serves as a reminder of the need for comprehensive security testing in web applications that handle user authentication.