CVE-2017-7579 in phpMyFAQ
Summary
by MITRE
inc/PMF/Faq.php in phpMyFAQ before 2.9.7 has XSS in the question field.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/27/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-7579 represents a cross-site scripting flaw located within the inc/PMF/Faq.php file of the phpMyFAQ content management system. This issue affects versions prior to 2.9.7 and specifically targets the question field processing functionality. The vulnerability arises from inadequate input validation and output sanitization mechanisms that fail to properly escape or filter user-supplied data before it is rendered back to users within the web interface. When a malicious actor submits crafted script code within the question field of an FAQ entry, this code becomes persistent and executes in the context of other users who view the affected FAQ page. This type of vulnerability falls under the CWE-79 category of Cross-Site Scripting, which is classified as a critical web application security weakness that enables attackers to inject malicious client-side scripts into web pages viewed by other users.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution as it provides attackers with the ability to perform various malicious activities including session hijacking, credential theft, and redirection to malicious websites. An attacker could craft a specially formatted question that, when viewed by an administrator or other privileged user, would execute scripts that steal authentication cookies or submit data to external servers. The vulnerability's persistence stems from the fact that the malicious content is stored within the application's database and subsequently rendered without proper sanitization during subsequent page loads. This creates a vector for attackers to establish long-term access to the system and potentially escalate privileges through the exploitation of the stored XSS vulnerability. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this as a code injection technique under the T1566.001 sub-technique, specifically targeting the web application layer where user input is improperly handled.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2017-7579 involve implementing comprehensive input validation and output encoding mechanisms throughout the phpMyFAQ application. The primary fix requires updating to version 2.9.7 or later where proper sanitization routines have been implemented to escape special characters in user inputs before rendering them in the web interface. Organizations should also implement Content Security Policy headers to limit the sources from which scripts can be executed and establish proper input filtering that removes or encodes potentially dangerous characters such as angle brackets, script tags, and javascript protocols. Additionally, administrators should consider implementing web application firewalls that can detect and block suspicious patterns in HTTP requests. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of input validation at multiple layers within web applications and highlights the necessity of following secure coding practices that prevent user-supplied data from being interpreted as executable code. Regular security audits and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities in other parts of the application and ensure that all user-facing inputs are properly sanitized before processing or display.