CVE-2015-5326 in Jenkins
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the slave overview page in CloudBees Jenkins before 1.638 and LTS before 1.625.2 allows remote authenticated users with certain permissions to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the slave offline status message.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/27/2022
The vulnerability CVE-2015-5326 represents a cross-site scripting flaw discovered in CloudBees Jenkins prior to specific version releases, specifically affecting versions before 1.638 and LTS versions before 1.625.2. This vulnerability exists within the slave overview page functionality of the Jenkins continuous integration platform, which serves as a critical component for managing distributed build agents in automated software development environments. The flaw allows authenticated attackers with appropriate permissions to inject malicious web scripts or HTML content into the slave offline status message field, creating a persistent security risk within the Jenkins ecosystem.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and output encoding mechanisms within the slave overview page. When administrators or authorized users configure slave offline status messages, the system fails to properly sanitize user-supplied input before rendering it in the web interface. This lack of proper sanitization creates an opening for malicious actors to embed script tags or other HTML elements that execute in the context of other users' browsers. The vulnerability specifically targets the status message field, which is commonly used to communicate maintenance schedules, system issues, or administrative notes about slave nodes. According to CWE classification, this represents a CWE-79: Cross-site Scripting vulnerability, which occurs when applications include untrusted data in web pages without proper validation or encoding, allowing attackers to execute scripts in the victim's browser context.
The operational impact of CVE-2015-5326 extends beyond simple script injection, as it can enable attackers to perform various malicious activities within the Jenkins environment. An attacker with sufficient permissions could craft payloads that steal session cookies, redirect users to malicious sites, or even execute arbitrary commands within the Jenkins context. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because Jenkins serves as a central hub for software development pipelines, making it a prime target for attackers seeking to compromise the entire CI/CD infrastructure. This type of vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for Command and Scripting Interpreter: JavaScript, where attackers leverage JavaScript execution capabilities to perform malicious actions within web applications. The vulnerability could potentially lead to privilege escalation or unauthorized access to build artifacts, source code repositories, and other sensitive development resources.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2015-5326 require immediate patching of affected Jenkins installations to versions 1.638 or LTS 1.625.2 and later, which contain the necessary input sanitization fixes. Organizations should also implement additional security measures including input validation at multiple layers, output encoding for all user-supplied content, and regular security audits of web application interfaces. The principle of least privilege should be enforced, limiting the permissions of users who can modify slave status messages to only those who absolutely require such access. Security teams should monitor Jenkins logs for suspicious activity related to slave configuration changes and implement web application firewalls to detect and block malicious payloads. Regular security training for development teams regarding secure coding practices and the importance of input validation helps prevent similar vulnerabilities from emerging in custom Jenkins plugins or extensions that may interact with the slave overview functionality.