CVE-2017-7276 in TOPdesk
Summary
by MITRE
There is reflected XSS in TOPdesk before 5.7.6 and 6.x and 7.x before 7.03.019.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/22/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-7276 represents a critical reflected cross-site scripting flaw discovered in TOPdesk software versions prior to 5.7.6 and 6.x, as well as versions before 7.03.019 in the 7.x series. This vulnerability exposes the application to malicious injection attacks that can compromise user sessions and potentially lead to unauthorized access to sensitive business data. The reflected XSS vulnerability occurs when the application fails to properly sanitize user input before incorporating it into web responses, allowing attackers to inject malicious scripts that execute in the context of other users' browsers. The flaw specifically affects the application's handling of parameters in HTTP requests that are then reflected back to users without adequate input validation or output encoding measures.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient sanitization of user-supplied data within the TOPdesk web interface. When users submit requests containing malicious payloads through parameters that are subsequently reflected in HTTP responses, the application does not adequately encode or escape special characters that could be interpreted as HTML or JavaScript code. This creates an environment where attackers can craft malicious URLs or forms that, when clicked by unsuspecting users, execute arbitrary scripts in the victim's browser context. The vulnerability operates at the application layer and leverages the trust relationship between the web application and its users, making it particularly dangerous as it can be exploited through various attack vectors including email phishing, social engineering, or compromised websites that redirect users to malicious TOPdesk endpoints.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it can enable sophisticated attack chains that lead to session hijacking, data theft, and privilege escalation within the TOPdesk environment. Attackers could potentially steal user authentication tokens, access confidential service desk information, manipulate ticket data, or even escalate privileges to gain administrative access to the TOPdesk system. The reflected nature of the vulnerability means that the malicious payload must be delivered through external means, typically via crafted links sent to victims through email or other communication channels, making it a persistent threat that requires immediate remediation. This vulnerability also increases the risk of insider threats and can be exploited in conjunction with other attack techniques to create more complex security breaches within enterprise environments that rely on TOPdesk for service management operations.
Organizations should implement comprehensive mitigation strategies including immediate patching to versions 5.7.6, 6.x, and 7.03.019 or later to address the reflected XSS vulnerability in TOPdesk. Additionally, implementing proper input validation and output encoding mechanisms at the application level can help prevent similar vulnerabilities from occurring in the future. Network-level protections such as web application firewalls and content security policies should be deployed to provide additional layers of defense against exploitation attempts. Security awareness training for users can help reduce the risk of successful social engineering attacks that rely on this vulnerability, while regular security assessments and code reviews should be conducted to identify and remediate similar issues in other applications within the organization's attack surface. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-79 which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws, and maps to ATT&CK technique T1566 related to social engineering attacks that could exploit such vulnerabilities in enterprise environments.