CVE-2014-5191 in CKEditor
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the Preview plugin before 4.4.3 in CKEditor allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via unspecified vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/26/2022
The CVE-2014-5191 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw within the CKEditor Preview plugin version 4.4.2 and earlier. This vulnerability falls under the CWE-79 category of Cross-Site Scripting, specifically manifesting as a client-side injection attack that enables malicious actors to execute arbitrary web scripts within the context of affected user sessions. The vulnerability was discovered in the Preview plugin component of CKEditor, which is widely used for content management and rich text editing across numerous web applications and content management systems.
The technical flaw stems from insufficient input validation and output encoding mechanisms within the Preview plugin's handling of user-provided content. Attackers could exploit this weakness by crafting malicious payloads that would be processed through the preview functionality, allowing them to inject HTML and JavaScript code that would execute in the browsers of unsuspecting users who viewed the affected content. The vulnerability's unspecified vectors suggest that multiple entry points within the preview functionality could be exploited, making the attack surface broader than typical XSS vulnerabilities that target specific input fields or parameters.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is substantial, as CKEditor is integrated into numerous content management systems, web applications, and enterprise platforms. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could potentially steal user sessions, redirect victims to malicious websites, deface web pages, or harvest sensitive information from authenticated user sessions. The remote nature of the attack means that exploitation does not require any local system access, making it particularly dangerous for web applications that allow user-generated content. The vulnerability essentially undermines the security of any web application that relies on CKEditor's Preview functionality, potentially affecting thousands of websites and applications that depend on this widely-used rich text editor component.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2014-5191 primarily involve upgrading to CKEditor version 4.4.3 or later, which includes proper input sanitization and output encoding mechanisms. Organizations should also implement comprehensive content security policies, employ web application firewalls, and conduct regular security assessments of their web applications. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of keeping third-party libraries and components updated, as well as implementing robust input validation and output encoding practices. Additionally, security teams should consider implementing automated scanning tools that can detect similar vulnerabilities in web applications and establish incident response procedures for handling potential XSS attacks. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this vulnerability under the T1059.007 technique for Scripting, highlighting how attackers can leverage such vulnerabilities to execute malicious code within user browsers. Organizations should also consider implementing proper security monitoring and logging mechanisms to detect potential exploitation attempts and establish baseline security practices that include regular security audits of integrated third-party components.