CVE-2017-20193 in Product Vendors Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 10/16/2024
The Product Vendors is vulnerable to Reflected Cross-Site Scripting via the 'vendor_description' parameter in versions up to, and including, 2.0.35 due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to inject arbitrary web scripts in pages that execute if they can successfully trick a user into performing an action such as clicking on a link.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/05/2025
This vulnerability exists within the Product Vendors application where the 'vendor_description' parameter fails to properly sanitize user input before rendering it in web pages. The flaw represents a classic reflected cross-site scripting vulnerability that allows attackers to inject malicious scripts into web pages viewed by other users. The vulnerability affects all versions up to and including 20193, indicating a long-standing security issue that has persisted through multiple releases. The root cause lies in insufficient input sanitization mechanisms and inadequate output escaping practices during the rendering process. When user-supplied data is directly incorporated into web page content without proper validation and encoding, it creates an opportunity for malicious actors to execute arbitrary code in the context of a victim's browser session.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant as it enables unauthenticated attackers to perform malicious activities without requiring any privileged access or authentication credentials. Attackers can craft specially formatted URLs containing malicious scripts within the vendor_description parameter, which when clicked by unsuspecting users, will execute the injected code in the victim's browser. This type of attack leverages social engineering techniques where users are tricked into clicking on seemingly legitimate links that contain the malicious payload. The reflected nature of the vulnerability means that the malicious script is reflected back from the web server to the user's browser, making it particularly dangerous as it can bypass many traditional security measures that rely on server-side validation.
From a cybersecurity perspective, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-79 which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws in web applications. The issue also maps to attack techniques described in the MITRE ATT&CK framework under T1203 - Exploitation for Client Execution, where adversaries leverage client-side vulnerabilities to execute malicious code. The vulnerability's persistence across multiple versions suggests inadequate security testing during development cycles and highlights the importance of implementing robust input validation and output encoding practices throughout the application lifecycle. Organizations using affected versions of Product Vendors should prioritize immediate remediation to prevent potential exploitation by threat actors who may be actively targeting this specific vulnerability.
The technical exploitation requires minimal prerequisites as attackers only need to craft malicious URLs and convince users to click on them, making this attack vector particularly effective in phishing campaigns or social engineering attacks. The vulnerability's impact extends beyond simple script execution as it could potentially enable more sophisticated attacks such as credential theft, session hijacking, or redirection to malicious sites. Proper mitigation requires implementing comprehensive input validation that rejects or sanitizes potentially dangerous characters and ensuring all output is properly encoded according to the context in which it is displayed. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing content security policies and regular security testing to identify and remediate similar vulnerabilities before they can be exploited in the wild.