CVE-2018-16138 in IPBRICK
Summary
by MITRE
An issue was discovered in the administration page in IPBRICK OS 6.3. There are multiple XSS vulnerabilities.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/17/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-16138 represents a critical cross-site scripting weakness within the administrative interface of IPBRICK OS version 6.3. This issue exposes the system to potential exploitation by malicious actors who can inject malicious scripts into web pages viewed by administrators. The vulnerability specifically affects the administration page, which serves as a critical control point for system management and configuration. The presence of multiple XSS vulnerabilities within this privileged interface significantly amplifies the risk, as administrators typically possess elevated privileges and access to sensitive system functions.
The technical flaw manifests through inadequate input validation and output encoding mechanisms within the web application's administrative components. When administrators interact with the affected pages, the system fails to properly sanitize user-supplied data before rendering it in web responses. This allows attackers to inject malicious JavaScript code through various input fields or parameters within the administration interface. The multiple nature of these vulnerabilities suggests that the sanitization issues are not isolated to a single input point but rather represent systemic weaknesses in the application's data handling processes. According to CWE classification, this vulnerability maps to CWE-79 which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws, while the administrative context aligns with CWE-352 for cross-site request forgery considerations.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends far beyond simple data corruption or display issues. An attacker who successfully exploits these XSS vulnerabilities could potentially hijack administrator sessions, execute arbitrary commands with elevated privileges, or gain unauthorized access to sensitive system configurations. The administrative interface typically contains critical system settings, user management functions, and network configuration options, making it a prime target for attackers seeking persistent access to the underlying network infrastructure. The vulnerability creates a pathway for attackers to establish backdoors, exfiltrate sensitive data, or manipulate system behavior in ways that could compromise the entire network security posture.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability must address both immediate remediation and long-term architectural improvements. The primary solution involves implementing comprehensive input validation and output encoding mechanisms throughout the administrative interface, ensuring that all user-supplied data is properly sanitized before being rendered in web responses. Security patches should be applied immediately to update the IPBRICK OS to a version that addresses these vulnerabilities, while organizations should also implement additional protective measures such as web application firewalls and content security policies. The ATT&CK framework identifies this as a potential initial access vector through web application exploitation, with possible subsequent techniques including privilege escalation and persistence mechanisms. Organizations should also conduct thorough security assessments of similar administrative interfaces and implement regular vulnerability scanning to identify and remediate similar issues before they can be exploited by malicious actors.