CVE-2019-7554 in API Based Travel Booking
Summary
by MITRE
An issue was discovered in PHP Scripts Mall API Based Travel Booking 3.4.7. There is Reflected XSS via the flight-results.php d2 parameter.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/28/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-7554 represents a critical security flaw in the PHP Scripts Mall API Based Travel Booking version 3.4.7 application. This issue manifests as a reflected cross-site scripting vulnerability that specifically targets the flight-results.php page through the d2 parameter. The vulnerability exists within the web application's input validation mechanisms, failing to properly sanitize user-supplied data before incorporating it into the HTTP response. This particular implementation allows malicious actors to inject arbitrary JavaScript code into the victim's browser context, potentially compromising the security of users interacting with the travel booking platform.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs when an attacker crafts a malicious URL containing crafted JavaScript payload within the d2 parameter of the flight-results.php endpoint. When a victim clicks on this malicious link or is redirected to such a page, the web application reflects the malicious input back to the victim's browser without proper sanitization or encoding. The reflected nature of this vulnerability means that the malicious script executes in the victim's browser context with the privileges of the victim's session, making it particularly dangerous for web applications that handle sensitive user data and transactions. This flaw directly maps to CWE-79 which defines Cross-Site Scripting as a vulnerability where untrusted data is embedded into web pages viewed by other users without proper validation or encoding.
The operational impact of this reflected XSS vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it can enable attackers to perform various malicious activities including session hijacking, credential theft, and redirection to malicious websites. An attacker could potentially steal user session cookies, allowing them to impersonate legitimate users and access their booking information, personal details, and potentially make unauthorized reservations. The vulnerability's presence in a travel booking application poses significant risks to user privacy and data security, as the affected platform likely handles sensitive information such as personal identification details, payment information, and travel itineraries. The reflected nature of the attack means that the malicious payload does not need to be stored on the server, making detection and prevention more challenging for system administrators.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2019-7554 should focus on implementing robust input validation and output encoding mechanisms throughout the application's codebase. The most effective approach involves sanitizing all user input parameters, particularly those used in dynamic content generation, by implementing proper HTML entity encoding before rendering any user-supplied data in the response. Additionally, developers should implement Content Security Policy headers to limit the sources from which scripts can be executed, providing an additional layer of protection against XSS attacks. The application should also employ proper parameter validation to ensure that input data conforms to expected formats and ranges, rejecting any malformed or potentially malicious input. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1203 which describes exploitation of web application vulnerabilities for privilege escalation and data exfiltration. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls to detect and block suspicious traffic patterns associated with XSS attempts, while maintaining regular security updates and patches to address known vulnerabilities in third-party components and frameworks.