CVE-2015-4660 in Enhanced SQL Portal
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Enhanced SQL Portal 5.0.7961 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the id parameter to iframe.php.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/21/2022
The CVE-2015-4660 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw within the Enhanced SQL Portal version 5.0.7961, specifically manifesting in the iframe.php component where user-supplied input is inadequately validated or sanitized. This vulnerability falls under the CWE-79 category of Cross-Site Scripting, which is a pervasive web application security weakness that enables attackers to inject malicious client-side scripts into web pages viewed by other users. The vulnerability's exploitation occurs through the id parameter, which serves as an entry point for remote attackers to inject arbitrary web scripts or HTML content directly into the application's response.
The technical implementation of this flaw demonstrates a classic input validation failure where the application fails to properly escape or sanitize user-provided parameters before incorporating them into dynamic web content. When a malicious actor crafts a specially formatted id parameter containing script tags or HTML elements, the application processes this input without adequate security controls, leading to the execution of unauthorized code within the victim's browser context. This vulnerability specifically affects the iframe.php endpoint, suggesting that the application's security measures are insufficient when handling dynamic iframe content generation based on user input.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script injection, as it provides attackers with the capability to perform session hijacking, steal sensitive cookies, redirect users to malicious websites, or even execute more sophisticated attacks such as credential theft or data exfiltration. The remote nature of the attack means that exploitation can occur from any location without requiring physical access to the target system, making this vulnerability particularly dangerous in production environments where the application handles sensitive database operations and user data. The vulnerability's presence in a SQL portal application is especially concerning as it could potentially be leveraged to access or manipulate database contents, depending on the application's architecture and access controls.
Security professionals should consider this vulnerability in the context of the MITRE ATT&CK framework, where it maps to the T1059 technique of Command and Scripting Interpreter, specifically within the web application context. The remediation approach must focus on implementing proper input validation and output encoding mechanisms, with a particular emphasis on sanitizing all user-supplied parameters before they are processed or rendered in web responses. Organizations should implement comprehensive parameter validation, employ context-appropriate output encoding, and consider adopting Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to mitigate the impact of potential XSS attacks. The vulnerability underscores the importance of regular security assessments and input validation testing, as it demonstrates how seemingly minor oversights in parameter handling can create significant security risks that persist even in well-established applications.