CVE-2019-7909 in Magento
Summary
by MITRE
A stored cross-site scripting vulnerability exists in the admin panel of Magento Open Source prior to 1.9.4.2, and Magento Commerce prior to 1.14.4.2, Magento 2.1 prior to 2.1.18, Magento 2.2 prior to 2.2.9, Magento 2.3 prior to 2.3.2. This could be exploited by an authenticated user with privileges to email templates.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/20/2020
This vulnerability represents a critical stored cross-site scripting flaw that affects multiple versions of the Magento e-commerce platform ecosystem. The issue specifically targets the admin panel interface where authenticated users with email template privileges can inject malicious scripts that persist in the system. The vulnerability falls under the CWE-79 category for cross-site scripting, which is a fundamental web application security weakness that allows attackers to execute scripts in the context of other users. The affected versions span across Magento Open Source 1.9.4.1 and earlier, Magento Commerce 1.14.4.1 and earlier, as well as Magento 2.1.17 and earlier, Magento 2.2.8 and earlier, and Magento 2.3.1 and earlier, indicating a widespread impact across the platform's major release lines.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through the email template functionality within the Magento admin panel. When an authenticated user with appropriate privileges creates or modifies email templates, the system fails to properly sanitize user input before storing and rendering the content. This allows an attacker to inject malicious JavaScript code that gets executed whenever the template is viewed by other users, including administrators. The stored nature of this XSS vulnerability means that the malicious payload persists in the database and can affect multiple users over time, unlike reflected XSS which requires specific user interaction. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it requires only email template privileges, which are often granted to users with administrative responsibilities, making it accessible to both internal employees and potentially compromised accounts.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it can lead to complete administrative compromise and data exfiltration. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability to steal session cookies, redirect users to malicious sites, modify content, or escalate privileges within the Magento system. According to ATT&CK framework, this represents a technique categorized under T1059.007 for Command and Scripting Interpreter, where attackers can execute malicious code through the web application interface. The vulnerability also aligns with T1566 for Phishing and T1071.001 for Application Layer Protocol, as attackers can craft malicious email templates to harvest credentials or redirect users to phishing pages. The persistence of stored XSS makes this vulnerability particularly dangerous for long-term attacks, as the malicious code remains active until the template is modified or deleted.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should implement immediate mitigations including applying the official security patches released by Magento for each affected version. The patches typically involve input sanitization and output encoding mechanisms that prevent malicious scripts from being stored and executed. Additional protective measures include implementing strict access controls to email template functionality, monitoring for suspicious template modifications, and conducting regular security audits of admin panel configurations. Network-based solutions such as web application firewalls can provide additional protection layers, though they should not be relied upon as the sole defense mechanism. Security teams should also consider implementing content security policies and regular vulnerability scanning to detect similar issues in other parts of their Magento deployment. The vulnerability underscores the importance of timely patch management and proper privilege segregation within e-commerce platforms where administrative functions can have far-reaching security implications.