CVE-2017-13073 in Photo Station
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in QNAP NAS application Photo Station versions 5.2.7, 5.4.3, and their earlier versions could allow remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/30/2020
The CVE-2017-13073 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw discovered in QNAP NAS application Photo Station versions 5.2.7, 5.4.3, and their earlier releases. This vulnerability resides within the web interface of the Photo Station application that runs on QNAP Network Attached Storage devices, making it a significant concern for organizations relying on these systems for media storage and sharing. The flaw allows remote attackers to execute malicious scripts in the context of a user's browser session, potentially compromising the security of the entire network infrastructure that depends on these storage solutions.
The technical implementation of this XSS vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and output encoding within the Photo Station application's web interface. When users interact with the application's file upload, comment, or metadata handling features, the application fails to properly sanitize user-supplied data before rendering it in web pages. This deficiency creates an opening for attackers to inject malicious JavaScript code through crafted file names, image descriptions, or other user-controllable inputs that are subsequently displayed to other users. The vulnerability manifests across multiple versions of the Photo Station application, indicating a fundamental flaw in the codebase that was not adequately addressed through version updates.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends far beyond simple script injection, as it provides attackers with the capability to establish persistent access to user sessions and potentially escalate privileges within the network environment. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to steal user authentication cookies, redirect users to malicious sites, or execute arbitrary commands on the affected systems. Given that QNAP NAS devices often serve as central repositories for sensitive organizational data, the exploitation of this XSS vulnerability could lead to unauthorized data access, privilege escalation, and potential lateral movement within the network. The remote nature of the attack means that threat actors do not require physical access to the devices, making the vulnerability particularly dangerous for organizations with distributed or cloud-based storage deployments.
Organizations affected by CVE-2017-13073 should prioritize immediate remediation through official QNAP firmware updates that address the input validation and output encoding deficiencies. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-79 which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws in web applications, and represents a clear violation of secure coding practices that should be enforced through proper input sanitization and output encoding mechanisms. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to techniques involving client-side attacks and credential access through session hijacking, potentially enabling adversaries to move laterally within networks through compromised user sessions. Security teams should also implement network monitoring to detect suspicious script injection patterns and consider deploying web application firewalls to provide additional defense-in-depth measures against exploitation attempts.