CVE-2017-14134 in Maple T.A.
Summary
by MITRE
A Reflected XSS Vulnerability affects the forgotten password page of Maplesoft Maple T.A. 2016.0.6 (Customer Hosted) via the emailAddress parameter to passwordreset/PasswordReset.do, aka Open Bug Bounty ID OBB-286688.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/15/2019
The vulnerability CVE-2017-14134 represents a reflected cross-site scripting flaw discovered in Maplesoft Maple T.A. 2016.0.6, specifically targeting the forgotten password functionality. This security weakness exists within the customer-hosted version of the software and manifests through the emailAddress parameter in the passwordreset/PasswordReset.do endpoint. The vulnerability allows malicious actors to inject malicious scripts into the web application's response, which are then executed in the context of other users' browsers when they interact with the vulnerable page.
The technical implementation of this reflected XSS vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and output encoding within the password reset functionality. When users submit their email addresses through the forgotten password form, the application fails to properly sanitize or encode the emailAddress parameter before incorporating it into the HTTP response. This creates an opportunity for attackers to craft malicious payloads that, when executed by unsuspecting users, can perform unauthorized actions such as stealing session cookies, redirecting users to malicious sites, or executing arbitrary JavaScript code within the victim's browser context. The vulnerability is classified as CWE-79, which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws where untrusted data is directly included in web pages without proper validation or encoding.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it can be exploited to compromise user sessions and potentially escalate privileges within the application. Attackers can construct malicious URLs containing crafted script payloads that, when clicked by authenticated users, can hijack their sessions or exfiltrate sensitive information. The vulnerability affects the customer-hosted deployment of Maple T.A., making it particularly concerning for organizations that have not updated to patched versions. This reflected XSS vulnerability can be leveraged in conjunction with other attack vectors to create more sophisticated exploitation scenarios, as highlighted by the Open Bug Bounty ID OBB-286688 which documents the specific instance of this flaw.
Organizations should implement multiple layers of defense to mitigate this vulnerability, beginning with immediate patching of the affected Maple T.A. version to the latest security updates provided by Maplesoft. Input validation and output encoding mechanisms must be strengthened at the application level, ensuring all user-supplied data is properly sanitized before being incorporated into web responses. The implementation of Content Security Policy headers can provide additional protection against script injection attacks, while web application firewalls can help detect and block malicious payloads. Security teams should also conduct comprehensive penetration testing to identify similar vulnerabilities in other application components and establish proper security monitoring protocols to detect exploitation attempts. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of maintaining up-to-date software versions and implementing robust input validation practices as outlined in the OWASP Top Ten and MITRE ATT&CK framework's web application attack patterns.