CVE-2022-2731 in OpenEMR
Summary
by MITRE • 08/09/2022
Cross-site Scripting (XSS) - Reflected in GitHub repository openemr/openemr prior to 7.0.0.1.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/03/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2022-2731 represents a reflected cross-site scripting flaw within the openemr healthcare management system repository. This issue affects versions prior to 7.0.0.1 and demonstrates a critical weakness in input validation and output encoding mechanisms. The vulnerability arises from insufficient sanitization of user-supplied data that flows through the application's response handling mechanisms, creating an avenue for malicious actors to inject arbitrary JavaScript code into web pages viewed by other users. The reflected nature of this vulnerability means that the malicious payload is immediately reflected back to the user through the application's response without being stored, making it particularly dangerous for targeted attacks. The vulnerability manifests when the application fails to properly encode or escape special characters in parameters received from HTTP requests, allowing attackers to craft malicious URLs that, when executed, can execute unauthorized scripts in the victim's browser context. This type of vulnerability falls under CWE-79 which specifically addresses Cross-Site Scripting flaws, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1531 which involves the use of malicious scripts to compromise web applications. The attack surface is particularly concerning given that openemr is a widely deployed electronic health records system used in healthcare environments, where the compromise of user sessions could lead to unauthorized access to sensitive patient data. The vulnerability enables attackers to perform session hijacking, steal authentication tokens, redirect users to malicious sites, or perform actions on behalf of authenticated users. The impact extends beyond simple data theft as it can facilitate more sophisticated attacks including credential harvesting, data exfiltration, and the establishment of persistent backdoors within healthcare networks. Organizations using affected versions of openemr face significant risk of data breaches and compliance violations, particularly in environments governed by regulations such as HIPAA where patient privacy is paramount. The vulnerability's exploitation requires minimal technical expertise, making it attractive to threat actors seeking to compromise healthcare systems. Proper input validation and output encoding practices should have prevented this vulnerability by ensuring that any user-supplied data is properly escaped before being rendered in web responses. The remediation involves updating to version 7.0.0.1 or later, which includes proper sanitization of input parameters and enhanced encoding mechanisms. Additionally, organizations should implement comprehensive web application firewall rules to detect and block malicious payloads, conduct regular security assessments, and ensure proper security training for developers working with web applications. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of adhering to secure coding practices and implementing defense-in-depth strategies to protect critical healthcare infrastructure from increasingly sophisticated cyber threats.