CVE-2018-15679 in XBTIT
Summary
by MITRE
An issue was discovered in BTITeam XBTIT 2.5.4. The "keywords" parameter in the search function available at /index.php?page=forums&action=search is vulnerable to reflected cross-site scripting.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/07/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-15679 resides within BTITeam XBTIT version 2.5.4, specifically within the forum search functionality. This issue represents a classic reflected cross-site scripting vulnerability that allows attackers to inject malicious scripts into web pages viewed by other users. The vulnerability manifests through the "keywords" parameter in the search function, which is accessible via the URL path /index.php?page=forums&action=search. When users submit search queries containing malicious payload within the keywords field, the application fails to properly sanitize or encode the input before reflecting it back in the HTTP response. This creates an opportunity for attackers to execute arbitrary JavaScript code within the victim's browser context, potentially leading to session hijacking, credential theft, or redirection to malicious websites.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability follows the standard reflected XSS attack pattern where an attacker crafts a malicious URL containing JavaScript payload and sends it to victims through phishing emails, social engineering, or by posting it in forum threads. When victims click the malicious link, their browsers execute the injected script in the context of the vulnerable website, bypassing the same-origin policy that normally protects against such attacks. The vulnerability directly maps to CWE-79, which defines Cross-site Scripting as a weakness where untrusted data is sent to a web browser without proper validation or encoding, allowing attackers to inject malicious scripts. This weakness is particularly dangerous because it can be leveraged to perform actions on behalf of authenticated users, potentially leading to complete account compromise.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability poses significant risks to the integrity and security of the BTITeam XBTIT platform and its user base. Attackers could exploit this flaw to steal user sessions, access private forum content, modify user permissions, or redirect users to phishing sites designed to capture credentials. The impact extends beyond individual user accounts to potentially compromise the entire forum infrastructure, as successful exploitation could lead to persistent backdoors or further escalation within the system. The reflected nature of this vulnerability means that the attack requires user interaction to be successful, making it particularly challenging to detect and prevent without proper input validation mechanisms in place.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2018-15679 should focus on implementing comprehensive input validation and output encoding mechanisms. The primary fix involves sanitizing all user-supplied input, particularly the keywords parameter, by removing or encoding potentially dangerous characters such as angle brackets, quotes, and script tags. Implementing proper HTML escaping and context-appropriate encoding for the reflected output ensures that any malicious content is rendered harmless. Organizations should also consider implementing Content Security Policy headers to limit the sources from which scripts can be loaded, providing an additional layer of protection against XSS attacks. Regular security audits and input validation testing should be conducted to identify and remediate similar vulnerabilities in other parts of the application. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for Command and Scripting Interpreter: JavaScript, highlighting the need for comprehensive security controls that address both the execution and prevention of client-side attacks. The remediation process should also include updating to the latest version of BTITeam XBTIT where this vulnerability has been addressed, as well as implementing proper web application firewall rules to detect and block malicious payloads targeting this specific vulnerability.