CVE-2017-12647 in Liferay
Summary
by MITRE
XSS exists in Liferay Portal before 7.0 CE GA4 via a Knowledge Base article title.
If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/15/2022
The vulnerability CVE-2017-12647 represents a cross-site scripting flaw discovered in Liferay Portal versions prior to 7.0 CE GA4, specifically affecting the Knowledge Base module. This vulnerability arises from insufficient input validation and output encoding mechanisms within the Knowledge Base article title field, creating an exploitable vector for malicious actors to inject harmful scripts into the web application. The flaw allows attackers to execute arbitrary JavaScript code in the context of a victim's browser when they view the affected Knowledge Base articles, potentially leading to session hijacking, credential theft, or other malicious activities.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from the application's failure to properly sanitize user-supplied input before rendering it in the web interface. When administrators or users create Knowledge Base articles with titles containing malicious script content, the portal does not adequately encode or filter the input, allowing the scripts to persist in the database and execute when other users browse the affected pages. This represents a classic XSS vulnerability categorized under CWE-79, which defines the weakness as the failure to sanitize user input before incorporating it into dynamically generated web content. The vulnerability specifically manifests in the context of reflected and stored XSS attacks, where the malicious payload is stored on the server and executed against multiple users.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it can enable attackers to escalate privileges within the Liferay Portal environment. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability could potentially access sensitive administrative functions, modify or delete Knowledge Base articles, or even gain unauthorized access to user sessions. The attack surface is particularly concerning given that Knowledge Base articles are commonly used throughout enterprise environments for documentation and information sharing, making them prime targets for exploitation. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566, which covers credential access through phishing and social engineering, as attackers can leverage the XSS to harvest session cookies or other authentication tokens from unsuspecting users.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2017-12647 primarily focus on implementing proper input validation and output encoding mechanisms within the Liferay Portal application. Organizations should immediately upgrade to Liferay Portal 7.0 CE GA4 or later versions where this vulnerability has been addressed through enhanced input sanitization and proper HTML encoding of user-supplied content. Additionally, administrators should implement Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to limit the execution of inline scripts and restrict the sources from which scripts can be loaded. Input validation should include strict sanitization of all user-provided data, particularly in fields that are rendered in web pages without proper encoding. Security monitoring should be enhanced to detect unusual patterns in Knowledge Base article creation that may indicate malicious activity, and regular security audits should verify that all user input is properly sanitized before being stored or displayed in the portal. The fix implemented in later versions of Liferay Portal demonstrates the importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches and implementing robust application-level defenses against common web vulnerabilities.