CVE-2016-7140 in Plone
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities in the ZMI page in Zope2 in Plone CMS 5.x through 5.0.6, 4.x through 4.3.11, and 3.3.x through 3.3.6 allow remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via unspecified vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/26/2022
The CVE-2016-7140 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw discovered within the Zope Management Interface (ZMI) of the Plone Content Management System. This vulnerability affects multiple versions of Plone including the 5.x series through 5.0.6, 4.x series through 4.3.11, and 3.3.x series through 3.3.6, demonstrating the widespread impact across different major releases of the platform. The ZMI serves as the administrative interface for Plone, making this vulnerability particularly dangerous as it could potentially be exploited by attackers to gain unauthorized access to administrative functions and compromise the entire CMS environment.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and output encoding within the ZMI page functionality. Attackers can exploit unspecified vectors to inject malicious web scripts or HTML content into the application's response, which then gets executed in the context of other users' browsers. This occurs because the application fails to properly sanitize user-supplied input before rendering it within the web interface, creating an environment where malicious code can persist and be executed when legitimate users access the affected pages. The vulnerability falls under CWE-79, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Scripting flaws, and represents a classic case of improper neutralization of input during web application development.
The operational impact of CVE-2016-7140 extends beyond simple script injection, as it provides attackers with potential access to administrative functions within the Plone CMS. Successful exploitation could enable attackers to modify content, create new user accounts, access sensitive data, or even escalate privileges to full administrative control. Given that the ZMI is a critical administrative interface, this vulnerability could allow attackers to completely compromise the CMS environment. The remote nature of the attack means that exploitation does not require local system access, making it particularly dangerous for publicly accessible Plone installations. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for Command and Scripting Interpreter, as it allows attackers to execute malicious scripts within user browsers, potentially leading to further exploitation through techniques like credential theft or session hijacking.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should prioritize immediate remediation through official security patches provided by the Plone community. The recommended mitigation strategy involves upgrading to patched versions of Plone where the input validation and output encoding issues have been addressed. Additionally, implementing proper input sanitization measures, deploying web application firewalls, and conducting regular security assessments can help prevent exploitation of similar vulnerabilities. Security teams should also consider implementing Content Security Policy headers to limit the execution of unauthorized scripts and monitor for suspicious activities in the ZMI access logs. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date security practices and the potential consequences of insufficient input validation in web applications, particularly those serving administrative functions.