CVE-2015-9102 in Photo Station
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities in Synology Photo Station 6.0 before 6.0-2638 and 6.3 before 6.3-2962 allow remote authenticated attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the (1) album name, (2) file name of uploaded photos, (3) description of photos, or (4) tag of the photos.
Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/21/2019
The CVE-2015-9102 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw affecting Synology Photo Station versions prior to specific patch releases. This vulnerability falls under the CWE-79 category of Cross-Site Scripting, which is one of the most prevalent and dangerous web application security flaws. The vulnerability specifically impacts authenticated users who can upload and manage photo metadata within the Photo Station application, creating a significant attack surface for malicious actors who can leverage this weakness to execute arbitrary web scripts in the context of other users' browsers.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through four distinct input vectors within the Photo Station application's metadata handling system. Attackers can inject malicious scripts through album names, which are displayed in the user interface and rendered without proper sanitization. Similarly, file names of uploaded photos, photo descriptions, and photo tags all present potential injection points where unfiltered user input is directly embedded into web pages. This multi-vector approach increases the likelihood of successful exploitation as attackers can choose the most effective injection point based on their target environment and the specific metadata fields they can access.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it provides attackers with persistent access to victim sessions and potentially full system compromise. When authenticated users view affected content containing malicious scripts, these scripts execute in the context of their browser sessions, allowing attackers to perform actions such as stealing session cookies, modifying photo metadata, accessing other user accounts, or even executing commands on the underlying system. This threat model aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for Command and Scripting Interpreter, where attackers leverage web-based scripting to maintain access and escalate privileges.
The vulnerability's persistence and propagation mechanisms make it particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where Synology Photo Station serves as a shared media management platform. Attackers can create malicious albums with embedded scripts that execute whenever other users browse the album, creating a vector for lateral movement within the organization. The authentication requirement does not adequately protect against this threat since the malicious scripts execute in the context of authenticated sessions, potentially allowing attackers to access sensitive photo collections and metadata that could contain confidential information or personal data. Organizations should implement comprehensive input validation and output encoding mechanisms, including the use of Content Security Policy headers and regular security audits of web applications to prevent such vulnerabilities from being exploited.