CVE-2019-9709 in Mahara
Summary
by MITRE
An issue was discovered in Mahara 17.10 before 17.10.8, 18.04 before 18.04.4, and 18.10 before 18.10.1. The collection title is vulnerable to Cross Site Scripting (XSS) due to not escaping it when viewing the collection's SmartEvidence overview page (if that feature is turned on). This can be exploited by any logged-in user.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/07/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-9709 represents a cross site scripting flaw in the Mahara learning management system that affects multiple versions including 17.10 before 17.10.8, 18.04 before 18.04.4, and 18.10 before 18.10.1. This issue specifically targets the SmartEvidence overview page functionality within the collection management system, creating a persistent security weakness that allows malicious users to execute arbitrary scripts in the context of other users' browsers. The vulnerability stems from inadequate input sanitization and output escaping mechanisms, particularly when rendering collection titles in the SmartEvidence feature's user interface.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability occurs within the web application's rendering pipeline where collection titles are displayed without proper HTML entity encoding or script sanitization. When the SmartEvidence overview page is enabled and accessed, the system fails to escape special characters in collection titles that might contain malicious script payloads. This allows a logged-in user to submit a collection title containing XSS payloads which then executes when other users view the SmartEvidence overview page. The vulnerability is classified as a client-side attack vector that leverages the trust relationship between the web application and its users, making it particularly dangerous in educational environments where multiple users interact with shared content repositories.
The operational impact of CVE-2019-9709 extends beyond simple script execution as it can enable attackers to perform various malicious activities including session hijacking, credential theft, data exfiltration, and privilege escalation within the Mahara platform. An attacker could craft collection titles containing malicious JavaScript that steals session cookies, redirects users to phishing sites, or modifies the application interface to deceive users into revealing sensitive information. The vulnerability affects all logged-in users since the attack requires no special privileges beyond normal platform access, making it a significant concern for educational institutions that rely on Mahara for content management and student assessment systems. This weakness can be exploited to compromise user sessions and potentially gain unauthorized access to sensitive academic data.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2019-9709 should prioritize immediate patching of affected Mahara versions to the latest releases containing the necessary security fixes. Organizations should implement proper input validation and output encoding mechanisms that sanitize all user-provided content before rendering it in web interfaces. The implementation should follow established security practices such as those outlined in the OWASP Secure Coding Practices and the CWE-79 category for cross site scripting vulnerabilities. Additional defensive measures include implementing content security policies to restrict script execution, regular security auditing of user input handling, and user education about the risks of submitting untrusted content to learning management systems. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this vulnerability under the T1059.007 technique for script injection, highlighting the need for comprehensive input sanitization across all web application components that process user-generated content.