CVE-2018-19954 in Photo Station
Summary
by MITRE
The cross-site scripting vulnerability has been reported to affect earlier versions of Photo Station. If exploited, the vulnerability could allow remote attackers to inject malicious code. This issue affects: QNAP Systems Inc. Photo Station versions prior to 5.7.11; versions prior to 6.0.10.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/01/2020
The CVE-2018-19954 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw within QNAP Systems Inc. Photo Station software that has significant implications for network security and data integrity. This vulnerability affects multiple versions of the Photo Station application across both major version lines, specifically targeting installations prior to 5.7.11 and 6.0.10. The flaw stems from inadequate input validation and output encoding mechanisms within the web interface, creating an exploitable entry point for malicious actors who seek to compromise user sessions and potentially gain unauthorized access to sensitive data stored within the photo station environment.
The technical nature of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-79, which categorizes cross-site scripting flaws as weaknesses in web applications that allow attackers to inject malicious scripts into web pages viewed by other users. The vulnerability manifests when the application fails to properly sanitize user-supplied input before rendering it in web responses, enabling attackers to craft malicious payloads that execute within the context of other users' browsers. This particular implementation flaw affects the Photo Station's handling of various parameters and user inputs, making it possible for remote attackers to inject script code that persists in the application's response handling.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script injection, as it creates a potential vector for more sophisticated attacks including session hijacking, credential theft, and data exfiltration. When exploited, the vulnerability allows attackers to execute malicious code in the browser context of authenticated users, potentially enabling them to access stored photos, personal information, and other sensitive data within the Photo Station environment. The risk is particularly elevated in enterprise environments where the Photo Station may be used to store confidential business information, personal photographs, or other sensitive digital assets.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should prioritize immediate remediation through the installation of the patched versions 5.7.11 and 6.0.10, as these releases contain the necessary input validation and output encoding fixes to prevent the exploitation of this cross-site scripting vulnerability. Security teams should also implement network monitoring to detect potential exploitation attempts and consider additional defensive measures such as web application firewalls and browser security policies to mitigate the risk of successful attacks. The vulnerability's classification under the ATT&CK framework would place it within the T1059.007 technique category for Scripting, specifically targeting web application interfaces through client-side code injection methods that leverage the trust relationship between users and web applications.