CVE-2022-35698 in Commerce
Summary
by MITRE • 10/15/2022
Adobe Commerce versions 2.4.4-p1 (and earlier) and 2.4.5 (and earlier) are affected by a Stored Cross-site Scripting vulnerability. Exploitation of this issue does not require user interaction and could result in a post-authentication arbitrary code execution.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/09/2022
Adobe Commerce implementations prior to versions 2.4.4-p1 and 2.4.5 contain a critical stored cross-site scripting vulnerability that represents a significant security risk for e-commerce platforms. This vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and output encoding mechanisms within the application's data processing pipelines, allowing malicious actors to inject persistent malicious scripts into the system's database. The flaw manifests when user-supplied data containing malicious javascript code is stored in the application's backend and subsequently rendered to other users without proper sanitization. According to CWE-079, this vulnerability specifically maps to a stored cross-site scripting condition where the malicious payload persists in the application's data store and executes automatically when other users access the affected content. The vulnerability's severity is amplified by its ability to execute without requiring user interaction, making it particularly dangerous in automated exploitation scenarios. Attackers can leverage this weakness to establish persistent footholds within the application environment, potentially leading to full system compromise.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it creates a pathway for attackers to perform post-authentication arbitrary code execution within the Adobe Commerce environment. This capability enables threat actors to escalate privileges and gain unauthorized access to sensitive customer data, payment information, and backend administrative functions. The stored nature of the vulnerability means that malicious scripts remain active even after the initial injection, continuously affecting any user who accesses the compromised data. This persistent threat model aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566.001 for initial access through spearphishing attachments and T1059.001 for command and script interpreter execution. The vulnerability affects both the 2.4.4 and 2.4.5 release lines, indicating a widespread issue across multiple versions of the platform's codebase. Organizations utilizing these versions face significant risk of data breaches, customer trust erosion, and potential regulatory compliance violations.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate implementation of comprehensive input validation and output encoding measures throughout the Adobe Commerce application stack. Organizations should prioritize updating to the patched versions 2.4.4-p1 and 2.4.5, as these releases contain the necessary security patches to address the stored XSS vulnerability. Additionally, implementing robust content security policies, regular security scanning of user inputs, and enhanced monitoring of database entries can help detect and prevent malicious script injection attempts. The remediation process should include thorough code reviews focusing on data handling procedures, particularly around user-generated content and administrative interfaces. Security teams must also establish incident response protocols specifically designed to address stored XSS scenarios, including database audit procedures and automated alerting systems for suspicious content injection patterns. Organizations should consider implementing web application firewalls and additional security controls to provide defense-in-depth against similar vulnerabilities in their e-commerce infrastructure.