CVE-2023-45758 in Amministrazione Trasparente Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 10/25/2023
Auth. (admin+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Marco Milesi Amministrazione Trasparente plugin
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/16/2023
The CVE-2023-45758 vulnerability represents a critical stored cross-site scripting flaw within the Amministrazione Trasparente plugin developed by Marco Milesi. This vulnerability specifically targets administrative users with privileges level of admin or higher, making it particularly dangerous as it can be exploited by authenticated attackers who have already gained access to administrative functions. The issue stems from inadequate input validation and output encoding mechanisms within the plugin's codebase, allowing malicious scripts to be persistently stored and subsequently executed when legitimate users interact with affected pages.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves the plugin's failure to properly sanitize user-supplied data before storing it in the database and rendering it in subsequent web responses. When administrative users input malicious script code into fields that should only accept legitimate content, the system does not adequately filter or encode these inputs. This stored data is then served to other users without proper sanitization, creating a persistent XSS vector. The vulnerability is classified as stored XSS because the malicious payload is saved server-side and executed whenever the affected page is accessed, rather than requiring immediate user interaction with a crafted link.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability poses significant risks to organizations relying on the Amministrazione Trasparente plugin for public administration transparency features. Attackers with administrative privileges can inject malicious scripts that could steal session cookies, perform unauthorized actions on behalf of users, redirect victims to malicious sites, or exfiltrate sensitive data from the affected system. The attack surface is particularly concerning as it targets administrative interfaces where users have elevated privileges, potentially allowing for complete system compromise. The vulnerability also undermines the trust users place in the transparency portal, as malicious actors could manipulate displayed information to mislead the public or conduct phishing attacks.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2023-45758 should focus on immediate input validation and output encoding improvements within the plugin's codebase. Organizations should implement comprehensive sanitization of all user inputs before storage, utilizing context-aware encoding techniques for output rendering. The recommended approach includes implementing strict content security policies, employing proper HTML escaping mechanisms, and utilizing parameterized queries or prepared statements to prevent script injection. Additionally, security patches should be applied immediately upon availability from the plugin vendor, as this vulnerability directly violates security principles outlined in CWE-79 which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls to detect and block suspicious input patterns, while monitoring for anomalous activities that might indicate exploitation attempts. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this vulnerability under T1566.001 - Phishing: Spearphishing Attachment, as it could be leveraged in targeted attacks against administrative users to establish persistent access. Regular security audits and code reviews should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities in other components, as this flaw demonstrates inadequate security controls in input handling and data validation processes.