CVE-2014-8076 in Professional theme
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the Professional theme 7.x before 7.x-2.04 for Drupal allows remote authenticated users with the "administer themes" permission to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via vectors related to custom copyright information.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/20/2018
The CVE-2014-8076 vulnerability represents a significant cross-site scripting flaw within the Professional theme for Drupal CMS versions 7.x prior to 7.x-2.04. This vulnerability specifically targets authenticated users who possess the "administer themes" permission, creating a dangerous attack vector that could be exploited by malicious actors within the organization. The flaw resides in the theme's handling of custom copyright information, where user input is not properly sanitized or validated before being rendered in web pages. This type of vulnerability falls under CWE-79 which categorizes cross-site scripting as a critical web application security weakness that allows attackers to inject malicious scripts into web pages viewed by other users.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs when an attacker with administrative theme permissions modifies the copyright information field in the Professional theme configuration. The malicious input, which could contain javascript code or html tags, gets stored in the database and subsequently rendered on the website without proper output encoding. This creates an environment where any user visiting the affected pages could unknowingly execute the injected scripts, potentially leading to session hijacking, data theft, or further compromise of the web application. The vulnerability demonstrates poor input validation practices and highlights the importance of implementing proper sanitization mechanisms for all user-controllable data that gets rendered in web contexts.
The operational impact of CVE-2014-8076 extends beyond simple script injection, as it provides a potential entry point for more sophisticated attacks within the Drupal environment. Attackers could leverage this vulnerability to steal administrator sessions, modify website content, or even escalate privileges within the application. The fact that this affects users with "administer themes" permissions means that even within a controlled environment, a compromised user account could lead to significant damage. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059 which covers the use of command and scripting interpreters, as the injected scripts could potentially be used to execute further malicious commands on the server. Organizations using Drupal Professional theme versions prior to 2.04 face substantial risk of unauthorized access and data compromise.
The recommended mitigation strategy for CVE-2014-8076 involves immediate upgrade to Drupal Professional theme version 7.x-2.04 or later, which contains the necessary patches to address the XSS vulnerability. Additionally, organizations should implement proper input validation and output encoding mechanisms for all theme configuration fields, particularly those that handle user-controllable content. Security teams should also consider implementing web application firewalls with XSS detection capabilities and regularly audit theme configurations to ensure no unauthorized modifications have been made. The vulnerability underscores the critical importance of keeping CMS themes and modules up to date, as well as following secure coding practices that prevent the injection of untrusted data into web contexts. Organizations should also implement principle of least privilege, ensuring that users with "administer themes" permissions are strictly limited to those who require such access for legitimate administrative purposes.