CVE-2017-14359 in Performance Center
Summary
by MITRE
A potential security vulnerability has been identified in HPE Performance Center versions 12.20. The vulnerability could be remotely exploited to allow cross-site scripting.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/04/2019
The vulnerability identified in HPE Performance Center version 12.20 represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw that exposes organizations to significant remote exploitation risks. This weakness allows attackers to inject malicious scripts into web applications that could be executed in the context of authenticated users' browsers, potentially leading to unauthorized access, data theft, or session hijacking. The issue stems from inadequate input validation and output encoding mechanisms within the web interface components of the performance testing platform. According to CWE-79, this vulnerability maps directly to Cross-Site Scripting flaws that occur when web applications fail to properly sanitize user-supplied data before incorporating it into dynamic content. The attack vector is particularly concerning as it enables remote exploitation without requiring authentication, making it accessible to any attacker who can interact with the vulnerable web interface.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves the failure to properly escape or encode user-controllable input fields within the HPE Performance Center web application. When legitimate users submit data through web forms, API endpoints, or other interactive components, the application processes this input without sufficient sanitization measures. This allows malicious actors to inject script code that gets executed in the browser context of other users who view the affected content. The flaw likely exists in parameters that handle test names, script descriptions, or other user-generated content that gets rendered back to users without proper HTML encoding. Attackers could leverage this vulnerability by crafting malicious payloads that would execute when other users browse to affected pages, potentially stealing session cookies, redirecting users to malicious sites, or performing unauthorized actions within the application on behalf of legitimate users.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it creates a persistent threat vector that could compromise the integrity of performance testing data and user sessions. Organizations utilizing HPE Performance Center for critical application testing may find their test environments compromised, potentially leading to false test results, data manipulation, or unauthorized access to sensitive performance metrics and test configurations. The vulnerability affects the application's ability to maintain secure user sessions and could enable attackers to escalate privileges or gain access to additional system resources. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to technique T1059.007 for Command and Scripting Interpreter, specifically focusing on script injection within web applications, and T1531 for Account Access Removal, as compromised sessions could lead to unauthorized access to system resources. The impact is particularly severe in enterprise environments where performance testing platforms are integrated with development and operations workflows, potentially disrupting CI/CD pipelines and compromising the security of development environments.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including applying the vendor-provided security patches and updates released for HPE Performance Center version 12.20. Network segmentation and web application firewalls should be deployed to monitor and filter potentially malicious traffic targeting the affected application. Input validation mechanisms should be strengthened to ensure all user-supplied data is properly sanitized before processing, with particular attention to encoding special characters and implementing Content Security Policy headers. Regular security assessments should include testing for similar injection vulnerabilities across all web applications, with emphasis on user input handling and output encoding practices. System administrators should monitor for anomalous user activity patterns and implement enhanced logging to detect potential exploitation attempts. The vulnerability highlights the importance of maintaining up-to-date security practices and demonstrates the critical need for comprehensive security testing throughout the software development lifecycle, particularly in applications that handle user-generated content and maintain persistent user sessions.