CVE-2018-25050 in Chosen
Summary
by MITRE • 12/28/2022
A vulnerability, which was classified as problematic, has been found in Harvest Chosen up to 1.8.6. Affected by this issue is the function AbstractChosen of the file coffee/lib/abstract-chosen.coffee. The manipulation of the argument group_label leads to cross site scripting. The attack may be launched remotely. Upgrading to version 1.8.7 is able to address this issue. The name of the patch is 77fd031d541e77510268d1041ed37798fdd1017e. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component. The identifier of this vulnerability is VDB-216956.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/25/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-25050 represents a cross-site scripting flaw within the Harvest Chosen library version 1.8.6 and earlier. This issue resides in the AbstractChosen function located in the coffee/lib/abstract-chosen.coffee file, where improper handling of the group_label argument creates a security exposure that can be exploited remotely. The vulnerability falls under the CWE-79 category of Cross-Site Scripting, specifically representing a client-side code injection vulnerability that allows attackers to execute malicious scripts in the context of other users' browsers. The affected component is part of a widely used JavaScript library designed to enhance HTML form elements with customizable dropdown functionality, making it a critical security concern for web applications that rely on this library for user interface components.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs when an attacker manipulates the group_label parameter passed to the AbstractChosen function, which then gets rendered into the web page without proper sanitization or encoding. This allows malicious input to be executed as JavaScript code when users interact with the affected dropdown elements, potentially leading to session hijacking, data theft, or unauthorized actions performed on behalf of victims. The remote attack vector means that adversaries can trigger this vulnerability through web-based interfaces without requiring local system access, making it particularly dangerous for web applications that process user-supplied data in dropdown configurations. The vulnerability demonstrates a classic input validation and output encoding failure that violates fundamental security principles for preventing XSS attacks.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it can enable attackers to perform sophisticated attacks such as credential theft through session manipulation, redirect users to malicious websites, or inject malicious content into web pages that users visit. Organizations using Harvest Chosen versions prior to 1.8.7 face significant risk exposure, particularly those with web applications that allow user input in dropdown configurations or that process external data sources through the affected library. The vulnerability affects the integrity and confidentiality of web applications by providing a pathway for attackers to compromise user sessions and potentially escalate privileges within the application context. Security teams must consider this vulnerability as part of their broader XSS attack surface assessment, especially when evaluating third-party libraries integrated into web applications.
The recommended mitigation strategy involves upgrading to Harvest Chosen version 1.8.7, which includes the patch identified by commit hash 77fd031d541e77510268d1041ed37798fdd1017e. This upgrade addresses the root cause by implementing proper input sanitization and output encoding for the group_label parameter, ensuring that user-supplied data cannot be executed as JavaScript code. Organizations should also implement additional defensive measures such as Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to provide an additional layer of protection against XSS attacks, and conduct thorough code reviews of any custom implementations that interact with the library. The fix demonstrates proper security engineering practices that align with ATT&CK framework techniques related to input validation and output encoding, specifically addressing the T1203 technique of Exploitation for Client Execution. Security teams should also consider implementing web application firewalls and monitoring for suspicious input patterns that might indicate attempts to exploit similar vulnerabilities in other components of their application stack.