CVE-2023-29015 in Goobi Viewer
Summary
by MITRE • 04/06/2023
The Goobi viewer is a web application that allows digitised material to be displayed in a web browser. A cross-site scripting vulnerability has been identified in the user comment feature of Goobi viewer core prior to version 23.03. An attacker could create a specially crafted comment, resulting in the execution of malicious script code in the user's browser when displaying the comment. The vulnerability has been fixed in version 23.03.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/07/2023
The Goobi viewer represents a significant digital humanities platform that facilitates the display of digitized materials through web browsers, serving as a critical tool for academic and cultural institutions worldwide. This web application enables users to access and interact with historical documents, manuscripts, and other digitized content through a standardized interface. The platform's user comment feature was designed to enhance engagement and facilitate scholarly discussion around digitized materials, allowing researchers and visitors to contribute annotations and observations about the displayed content. However, this legitimate functionality became a vector for malicious exploitation due to inadequate input validation and sanitization mechanisms within the application's core architecture.
The technical flaw manifests as a cross-site scripting vulnerability specifically within the user comment processing module of Goobi viewer core versions prior to 23.03. This vulnerability stems from insufficient sanitization of user input data when comments are submitted and subsequently rendered on web pages. The flaw aligns with CWE-79, which categorizes cross-site scripting as a critical weakness in web applications where untrusted data is improperly handled and executed within the browser context. Attackers can exploit this vulnerability by crafting malicious script payloads within comment text fields that contain embedded javascript code or other malicious scripting elements. When other users view these comments, the malicious code executes within their browser environment, potentially compromising their security and privacy.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, representing a serious threat to user security and application integrity. An attacker could leverage this vulnerability to steal session cookies, redirect users to malicious websites, inject phishing content, or perform actions on behalf of authenticated users. The vulnerability affects the entire user base of affected Goobi viewer installations, creating a persistent threat vector that could compromise multiple users over time. This type of vulnerability particularly impacts academic and research environments where users may have elevated privileges or access to sensitive institutional data through the viewer platform. The vulnerability's exploitation potential aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566, which describes social engineering attacks through malicious content delivery.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate deployment of the patched version 23.03, which implements proper input sanitization and output encoding mechanisms. Organizations should also implement additional security measures including comprehensive input validation, content security policies, and regular security auditing of web applications. The fix addresses the root cause by ensuring that all user-generated content undergoes proper sanitization before being rendered in the browser context, preventing script execution through proper escaping of special characters and validation of input formats. Security teams should conduct thorough vulnerability assessments of similar web applications within their environments and implement automated scanning processes to identify potential cross-site scripting vulnerabilities in other systems.