CVE-2018-20006 in PHPOK
Summary
by MITRE
An issue was discovered in PHPok v5.0.055. There is a Stored XSS vulnerability via the title parameter to api.php?c=post&f=save (reachable via the index.php?id=book URI).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/19/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-20006 represents a critical stored cross-site scripting flaw within PHPok version 5.0.055, a content management system widely used for web publishing and management. This vulnerability resides in the application's handling of user input within the api.php endpoint, specifically when processing POST requests through the post controller's save function. The attack vector is accessible through the index.php?id=book URI, which allows malicious actors to inject persistent malicious scripts into the application's database. The flaw stems from inadequate input validation and output sanitization mechanisms that fail to properly escape or encode user-supplied data before storing it in the database and subsequently rendering it in web pages. This type of vulnerability falls under CWE-79 - Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation, which is a fundamental weakness in web application security that enables attackers to execute arbitrary client-side scripts in the context of other users.
The operational impact of this stored XSS vulnerability is severe as it allows attackers to inject malicious scripts that persist in the application's database and execute whenever affected pages are loaded. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by submitting a malicious title parameter containing JavaScript code through the vulnerable API endpoint, which would then be stored and executed in the context of other users' browsers. This creates a persistent threat where victims unknowingly execute malicious code whenever they view pages containing the compromised content, potentially leading to session hijacking, credential theft, data exfiltration, or redirection to malicious sites. The vulnerability's accessibility through the index.php?id=book URI makes it particularly dangerous as it requires minimal reconnaissance to identify and exploit, potentially affecting any user who views pages containing the malicious content. The stored nature of this vulnerability means that the malicious payload remains active until manually removed from the database, creating a long-term security risk for the application and its users.
Security professionals should implement multiple layers of defense to mitigate this vulnerability. Input validation and sanitization should be strengthened at the application level by implementing proper encoding techniques such as HTML entity encoding for all user-supplied content before database storage. The application should employ Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to limit the sources from which scripts can be executed, providing an additional barrier against malicious script execution. Regular security audits should be conducted to identify and remediate similar input validation weaknesses throughout the application codebase. Organizations should also implement proper access controls and monitoring to detect unauthorized modifications to application content. According to ATT&CK framework, this vulnerability maps to T1059.007 - Command and Scripting Interpreter: JavaScript, and T1566.001 - Credential Access: Phishing, as attackers could use this vulnerability to harvest user credentials through session hijacking or by redirecting users to phishing sites. The vulnerability also aligns with NIST SP 800-53 controls related to input validation and output encoding, emphasizing the importance of implementing proper data sanitization measures. Additionally, implementing web application firewalls and regular security patching would provide further protection against exploitation attempts.