CVE-2017-17989 in Biometric Shift Employee Management System
Summary
by MITRE
Biometric Shift Employee Management System has XSS via the index.php holiday_name parameter in an edit_holiday action.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/18/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-17989 represents a cross-site scripting flaw within the Biometric Shift Employee Management System, specifically manifesting in the index.php script where the holiday_name parameter is processed during an edit_holiday action. This system is designed for managing employee shift schedules and biometric data, making it a critical component in organizational workforce management infrastructure. The flaw occurs when user-supplied input containing malicious script code is not properly sanitized or validated before being rendered in the web application's response, creating an avenue for attackers to inject arbitrary JavaScript code into the application's output.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and output encoding practices within the application's parameter handling mechanism. When the holiday_name parameter is submitted through the edit_holiday action, the system fails to properly escape or sanitize special characters that could be interpreted as HTML or JavaScript markup. This weakness aligns with CWE-79, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Scripting vulnerabilities where applications fail to properly validate or encode user input before incorporating it into dynamically generated web content. The vulnerability exists at the point where user-provided holiday names are directly incorporated into the application's HTML response without proper sanitization, allowing attackers to inject malicious payloads that execute in the context of other users' browsers.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data theft, as it enables attackers to perform various malicious activities within the compromised user sessions. An attacker could exploit this flaw to steal session cookies, redirect users to malicious websites, deface the application interface, or even escalate privileges within the system if the application's authentication mechanisms are not properly isolated. The vulnerability particularly affects the system's integrity and confidentiality, as it allows unauthorized code execution in the context of authenticated users who interact with the holiday management functionality. Given that this is an employee management system, successful exploitation could compromise sensitive workforce data, including personal employee information, shift schedules, and potentially access controls that govern system functionality.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on implementing comprehensive input validation and output encoding mechanisms throughout the application's data flow. The primary remediation involves sanitizing all user-supplied input, particularly parameters like holiday_name, through proper encoding techniques such as HTML entity encoding before rendering in web responses. Organizations should implement Content Security Policy headers to add additional layers of protection against script injection attacks. The system should also incorporate proper parameter validation to reject or sanitize input containing potentially dangerous characters and patterns. Additionally, regular security testing including dynamic application security testing and manual code reviews should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities in other parameters and functions within the application. This vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of following secure coding practices and adhering to OWASP Top Ten security guidelines, particularly those addressing input validation and output encoding to prevent XSS attacks that could compromise entire web applications and their underlying data integrity.