CVE-2023-49270 in Hotel Management
Summary
by MITRE • 12/20/2023
Hotel Management v1.0 is vulnerable to multiple authenticated Reflected Cross-Site Scripting vulnerabilities. The 'check_in_date' parameter of the reservation.php resource is copied into the HTML document as plain text between tags. Any input is echoed unmodified in the application's response.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/19/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2023-49270 affects Hotel Management v1.0 and represents a critical authenticated reflected cross-site scripting flaw that exposes the application to persistent security risks. This issue manifests within the reservation.php resource where the check_in_date parameter fails to undergo proper input sanitization before being rendered in the HTML output. The vulnerability operates under CWE-79 which specifically addresses cross-site scripting conditions where untrusted data is incorporated into web pages without appropriate validation or encoding measures. The flaw requires minimal privileges for exploitation as it only necessitates authenticated access to the application, making it particularly dangerous in environments where legitimate users might be tricked into executing malicious payloads through crafted input.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from the application's failure to properly escape or encode user-supplied data before incorporating it into the HTML document structure. When the check_in_date parameter is submitted through the reservation.php endpoint, the system directly echoes this input without any sanitization processes, creating a reflected XSS vector that allows attackers to inject malicious scripts into the web application's response. This unfiltered data handling violates fundamental web security principles and creates opportunities for attackers to execute arbitrary JavaScript code within the context of authenticated user sessions. The vulnerability specifically manifests when the application copies the parameter value into HTML document elements without proper HTML entity encoding, which is a standard defense mechanism against XSS attacks.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data theft or session hijacking, as it provides attackers with the capability to manipulate the application's behavior and potentially escalate privileges within the authenticated session. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability can execute malicious scripts that target the authenticated user's browser, potentially leading to session fixation, credential theft, or redirection to malicious sites. The reflected nature of the vulnerability means that the malicious payload must be crafted to be included in a URL or form submission that will be processed by the vulnerable application, making it particularly dangerous in scenarios where users might be tricked into clicking malicious links or submitting forms containing crafted payloads. This vulnerability creates persistent security risks that could compromise the integrity of the hotel management system and potentially expose sensitive guest information.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2023-49270 should focus on implementing robust input validation and output encoding mechanisms within the application's codebase. The most effective immediate solution involves proper HTML entity encoding of all user-supplied inputs before rendering them in HTML contexts, which aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566.001 for credential access through social engineering. Organizations should implement comprehensive parameter validation that rejects or sanitizes potentially malicious input patterns, particularly those containing script tags or common XSS payload indicators. The application should also adopt Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to add an additional layer of protection against script execution, and implement proper session management controls to limit the impact of successful exploitation attempts. Regular security testing including automated scanning and manual penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities throughout the application codebase and ensure that all input handling mechanisms properly sanitize user data before processing or display.