CVE-2018-18029 in Navigate CMS
Summary
by MITRE
Navigate CMS has Stored XSS via the navigate.php Title field in an edit action.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/01/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-18029 resides within Navigate CMS, a content management system that suffers from a stored cross-site scripting flaw in its navigate.php component. This issue manifests specifically when users interact with the Title field during an edit action, creating a persistent security risk that affects all users of the affected system. The vulnerability represents a critical weakness in the application's input validation and output sanitization mechanisms, allowing attackers to inject malicious scripts that persist in the database and execute against unsuspecting users who view the affected content.
The technical flaw operates through the improper handling of user-supplied input in the Title field parameter of the navigate.php script. When administrators or users edit content through the CMS interface, the system fails to adequately sanitize or escape the Title field before storing it in the database. This allows malicious actors to inject JavaScript code or other malicious payloads that are subsequently executed whenever the affected page is rendered. The stored nature of this vulnerability means that the malicious code persists in the database and executes automatically whenever users access the affected content, making it particularly dangerous as it can affect multiple users over time without requiring repeated exploitation attempts.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it provides attackers with potential access to sensitive user data, session hijacking capabilities, and the ability to perform unauthorized actions within the CMS environment. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability to steal administrative credentials, modify content, inject malware, or redirect users to malicious sites. The vulnerability affects the integrity and confidentiality of the CMS system, potentially leading to complete system compromise if the attacker can escalate privileges or gain administrative access. The persistent nature of stored XSS means that the attack vector can remain active for extended periods, making detection and remediation more challenging for system administrators.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2018-18029 should prioritize immediate patch application from the Navigate CMS vendor, as this represents the most effective solution to address the underlying code vulnerability. Organizations should implement comprehensive input validation and output encoding mechanisms, ensuring that all user-supplied data is properly sanitized before being stored or displayed. The implementation of Content Security Policy headers can provide additional protection against script execution, while regular security audits and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-79, which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws, and maps to ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for scripting languages, demonstrating how attackers can leverage such vulnerabilities to establish persistent access and execute malicious code within the target environment.