CVE-2022-2113 in inventree
Summary
by MITRE • 06/17/2022
Cross-site Scripting (XSS) - Stored in GitHub repository inventree/inventree prior to 0.7.2.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/19/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2022-2113 represents a stored cross-site scripting flaw discovered in the GitHub repository inventree/inventree prior to version 0.7.2. This repository hosts an open-source inventory management system that provides web-based interfaces for tracking and managing inventory items across various organizations. The stored XSS vulnerability arises from insufficient input validation and output encoding within the application's web interface, specifically affecting how user-supplied data is processed and rendered back to users. The flaw allows attackers to inject malicious scripts that persist in the application's database and execute whenever other users view the affected content, making it particularly dangerous for collaborative environments where multiple users interact with shared data.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from the application's failure to properly sanitize user inputs before storing them in the database and subsequently rendering them in web responses. When users submit data through various forms or interfaces within the inventory management system, the application does not adequately validate or escape special characters that could be interpreted as HTML or JavaScript code. This weakness enables attackers to craft malicious payloads that include script tags, event handlers, or other malicious code snippets which are then stored in the database. When other users access pages containing this stored data, their browsers execute the injected scripts within their browser context, potentially leading to session hijacking, credential theft, or redirection to malicious sites.
The operational impact of this stored XSS vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it can enable attackers to perform a wide range of malicious activities within the context of the affected application. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability could steal user session cookies, allowing them to impersonate legitimate users and gain unauthorized access to sensitive inventory data, modify records, or even delete critical information. The vulnerability also presents opportunities for attackers to redirect users to phishing sites, harvest sensitive information from the application's interface, or establish persistent backdoors through more sophisticated attack vectors that could leverage the initial XSS foothold. Given that inventory management systems often contain sensitive business data, the potential for financial impact and operational disruption is significant.
Organizations utilizing the inventree/inventree application prior to version 0.7.2 should immediately implement mitigations including updating to the patched version 0.7.2 or later, which addresses the stored XSS vulnerability through proper input sanitization and output encoding mechanisms. Additional defensive measures include implementing content security policies to restrict script execution, deploying web application firewalls to detect and block malicious payloads, and conducting comprehensive security reviews of all user input handling processes. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-79 which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws in web applications, and maps to ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for scripting languages and T1566.001 for spearphishing attachments, highlighting the multi-faceted nature of the threat landscape. Security teams should also implement regular vulnerability scanning and penetration testing procedures to identify similar weaknesses in other web applications and ensure that input validation mechanisms are consistently applied throughout the application codebase.