CVE-2023-43614 in e-Commerce
Summary
by MITRE • 09/27/2023
Cross-site scripting vulnerability in Order Data Edit page of Welcart e-Commerce versions 2.7 to 2.8.21 allows a remote unauthenticated attacker to inject an arbitrary script.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/20/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2023-43614 represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw within the Welcart e-Commerce platform, specifically affecting versions 2.7 through 2.8.21. This security weakness resides in the Order Data Edit page functionality, creating an exploitable entry point that enables malicious actors to execute arbitrary script code within the context of affected user browsers. The vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and output sanitization mechanisms that fail to properly escape or filter user-supplied data before rendering it within web pages. This particular weakness falls under the CWE-79 category of Cross-Site Scripting, which is classified as a persistent and stored XSS vulnerability due to the nature of how order data is processed and displayed.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script injection, as it provides attackers with the capability to manipulate the administrative interface and potentially access sensitive customer data. An unauthenticated attacker can leverage this flaw by submitting malicious payloads through the order editing functionality, which then gets executed when administrators view the affected order data. This creates a persistent threat vector where attackers can establish backdoors, steal session cookies, redirect users to malicious sites, or even perform administrative actions on behalf of legitimate users. The vulnerability's severity is amplified by the fact that it affects the order management interface, which typically contains sensitive financial and personal information that would be of significant interest to cybercriminals.
From a threat modeling perspective, this vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566.001 which covers Spearphishing Attachment, but more specifically maps to T1566.002 for Spearphishing Link and T1059.007 for Command and Scripting Interpreter. The attack chain would typically begin with an attacker identifying the vulnerable Welcart installation, crafting a malicious payload designed to exploit the XSS vulnerability, and then either directly injecting the script through the order data editing interface or using social engineering to induce administrators to click on malicious links that trigger the vulnerability. The attack surface is particularly concerning given that order data pages often contain personally identifiable information, payment details, and other sensitive business data that could be exfiltrated or manipulated.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2023-43614 should prioritize immediate patching of affected Welcart e-Commerce installations to version 2.8.22 or later, which contains the necessary security fixes. Organizations should implement comprehensive input validation and output encoding mechanisms to prevent similar vulnerabilities from occurring in other parts of their web applications. The implementation of Content Security Policy headers can provide additional defense-in-depth measures by restricting script execution and preventing unauthorized code injection. Regular security audits and penetration testing of e-commerce platforms are essential to identify and remediate such vulnerabilities before they can be exploited in the wild. Additionally, network monitoring solutions should be configured to detect anomalous traffic patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts targeting this specific vulnerability. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date software components and implementing proper security controls around user input handling in web applications.