CVE-2019-20377 in TopList
Summary
by MITRE
TopList before 2019-09-03 allows XSS via a title.
Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/20/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-20377 affects TopList software versions prior to the 2019-09-03 release, presenting a cross-site scripting vulnerability that can be exploited through the title parameter. This issue represents a classic web application security flaw that undermines the integrity of user input validation and sanitization mechanisms within the application's data processing pipeline. The vulnerability specifically manifests when the application fails to properly sanitize user-supplied title data before rendering it within web pages, creating an avenue for malicious actors to inject arbitrary script code that executes in the context of other users' browsers.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through the manipulation of the title field in TopList's data submission processes, where insufficient input validation allows attackers to embed malicious javascript payloads within title values. When other users view content containing these malicious titles, the embedded scripts execute in their browsers, potentially leading to session hijacking, credential theft, or redirection to malicious sites. This type of vulnerability falls under the CWE-79 category of Cross-Site Scripting, specifically representing a reflected XSS attack vector where the malicious payload is reflected back to users through the application's response. The vulnerability demonstrates poor output encoding practices and inadequate sanitization of user-supplied data, which are fundamental security misconfigurations in web application development.
The operational impact of CVE-2019-20377 extends beyond simple data corruption, potentially enabling attackers to compromise user sessions and access sensitive information within the TopList environment. Depending on the application's architecture and user permissions, this vulnerability could facilitate privilege escalation attacks or serve as a stepping stone for more sophisticated exploitation attempts. The reflected nature of the XSS means that successful exploitation requires user interaction with malicious links or content, but once triggered, the attack can persist across multiple user sessions. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for Command and Scripting Interpreter: JavaScript, and T1566 for Phishing, as attackers can leverage this vulnerability to deliver malicious payloads through social engineering campaigns.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability center on implementing robust input validation and output encoding mechanisms throughout the TopList application. The most effective immediate solution involves sanitizing all user-supplied title data by removing or encoding potentially dangerous characters such as angle brackets, quotes, and script tags before storing or rendering the content. Implementing Content Security Policy headers can provide additional defense-in-depth measures to prevent execution of unauthorized scripts. Regular security updates and patch management processes should be enforced to ensure that all components remain current with security best practices. The vulnerability highlights the importance of following secure coding guidelines such as those outlined in the OWASP Top Ten and the ISO/IEC 27001 security framework, particularly focusing on input validation and output encoding controls. Organizations should also implement automated security testing including dynamic application security testing and static code analysis to identify similar vulnerabilities in other application components.