CVE-2022-44024 in nGeniusONE
Summary
by MITRE • 01/27/2023
An issue was discovered in NetScout nGeniusONE 6.3.2 before P10. It allows Reflected Cross-Site Scripting (XSS), issue 1 of 6.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/28/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2022-44024 represents a critical reflected cross-site scripting flaw within NetScout nGeniusONE version 6.3.2 prior to patch level P10. This security weakness resides in the network monitoring and analysis platform that organizations rely upon to maintain visibility into their network infrastructure. The nGeniusONE system serves as a comprehensive network performance monitoring solution that collects, analyzes, and presents network data to network administrators and security teams. The reflected XSS vulnerability specifically affects the web interface components of this network monitoring platform, creating a potential attack vector that could compromise user sessions and enable malicious actors to execute arbitrary code within the context of authenticated users.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and output encoding within the web application's response handling mechanisms. When the nGeniusONE web interface processes user-supplied parameters through HTTP request methods, it fails to properly sanitize or escape special characters in the input data before incorporating it into the HTML response output. This allows an attacker to inject malicious script code through crafted URLs or form submissions that are then executed by the victim's browser when the page loads. The reflected nature of this vulnerability means that the malicious script code is reflected off the web server in response to the user's request, making it particularly dangerous as it requires minimal interaction from the victim beyond visiting a maliciously crafted link. This flaw operates under the Common Weakness Enumeration CWE-79 category, which specifically addresses cross-site scripting vulnerabilities where untrusted data is incorporated into web pages without proper validation or encoding.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, potentially enabling attackers to hijack user sessions, steal sensitive network monitoring data, and compromise the integrity of network performance information. Network administrators who authenticate to the nGeniusONE interface become prime targets for exploitation, as successful XSS attacks could allow attackers to access detailed network performance metrics, configuration settings, and potentially sensitive network topology information. The vulnerability creates opportunities for attackers to perform session hijacking attacks, where malicious scripts could capture authentication cookies and establish unauthorized access to the monitoring platform. Additionally, the reflected nature of the vulnerability means that attackers can craft targeted payloads that exploit specific user sessions, making this attack vector particularly effective in environments where multiple administrators access the same monitoring system. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for Command and Scripting Interpreter: JavaScript, as it enables attackers to execute malicious JavaScript code within the victim's browser context.
Organizations utilizing NetScout nGeniusONE should prioritize immediate remediation through the application of patch level P10 or later, as this represents the official vendor-provided fix for the reflected XSS vulnerability. The mitigation strategy should include comprehensive network monitoring to detect any exploitation attempts, particularly focusing on unusual traffic patterns that might indicate attempts to leverage the XSS vulnerability. Security teams should also implement web application firewalls and content security policies to add additional layers of protection against reflected XSS attacks. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches for network monitoring systems, as these platforms often contain sensitive network information and represent attractive targets for cyber adversaries. Organizations should conduct thorough vulnerability assessments to ensure that no other components of their network monitoring infrastructure may be similarly affected by input validation weaknesses. The incident underscores the necessity of implementing robust input validation controls and output encoding mechanisms in web applications, particularly those handling sensitive operational data in network monitoring environments. Regular security testing and code reviews should be conducted to identify potential injection vulnerabilities in similar network monitoring platforms and ensure that proper security controls are in place to protect against reflected cross-site scripting attacks.