CVE-2021-43334 in BuddyBoss
Summary
by MITRE • 01/26/2022
BuddyBoss Platform through 1.8.0 allows XSS via the Group Name or Group Description field.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/29/2022
The vulnerability CVE-2021-43334 represents a cross-site scripting weakness in the BuddyBoss Platform version 1.8.0 and earlier, which enables attackers to inject malicious scripts into group name or group description fields. This flaw resides in the platform's input validation and output sanitization mechanisms, specifically within the group creation and editing functionalities where user-provided content is stored and subsequently rendered without proper security filtering. The vulnerability stems from insufficient sanitization of user inputs, allowing malicious actors to embed javascript code that executes in the context of other users' browsers when they view the affected group information. This represents a classic reflected cross-site scripting vulnerability categorized under CWE-79, which occurs when web applications fail to properly validate or escape user-supplied data before incorporating it into dynamically generated web pages.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it can enable attackers to perform session hijacking, steal sensitive user information, manipulate group data, or redirect users to malicious websites. When users browse group pages containing the maliciously injected scripts, their browsers execute the embedded code, potentially compromising their sessions and allowing unauthorized access to their BuddyBoss accounts. The vulnerability affects the platform's core group management features, making it particularly dangerous as groups are fundamental components of the social networking functionality. Attackers can exploit this weakness to create persistent malicious content that affects all users who view the compromised group information, potentially leading to widespread security breaches across the platform.
Security professionals should consider this vulnerability in the context of the ATT&CK framework under the technique T1531 for "Account Access Removal" and T1059.007 for "Command and Scripting Interpreter: JavaScript" as it enables malicious script execution. The vulnerability demonstrates a failure in the platform's defense-in-depth strategy, particularly in input validation and output encoding controls. Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including input sanitization of all user-provided content, implementation of Content Security Policy headers, and regular security updates to address the vulnerability. The recommended approach involves filtering and escaping all user inputs before storage and rendering, implementing proper HTML entity encoding for dynamic content, and ensuring that the platform receives timely security patches from the vendor. Additionally, organizations should conduct thorough security assessments of their BuddyBoss installations to identify and remediate similar vulnerabilities in other components of the platform, as this type of weakness often indicates broader input validation issues that may affect other areas of the application.