CVE-2023-5890 in pkp-lib
Summary
by MITRE • 11/01/2023
Cross-site Scripting (XSS) - Stored in GitHub repository pkp/pkp-lib prior to 3.3.0-16.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/29/2023
Cross-site scripting vulnerabilities represent one of the most prevalent and dangerous web application security flaws, with stored XSS attacks posing particular risks due to their persistence and potential for widespread impact. The vulnerability identified in the GitHub repository pkp/pkp-lib prior to version 3.3.0-16 demonstrates a classic case where user-supplied input is inadequately sanitized before being rendered in web pages, creating opportunities for malicious actors to inject persistent scripts that execute in the context of other users' browsers.
The technical flaw within this repository stems from insufficient input validation and output encoding mechanisms within the application's data handling processes. When users submit content through various interfaces such as comments, user profiles, or administrative inputs, the system fails to properly sanitize these inputs before storing them in databases or rendering them in subsequent web responses. This allows attackers to embed malicious javascript code within seemingly benign content, which then gets executed whenever other users view the affected pages. The stored nature of this vulnerability means that once exploited, the malicious payload persists until manually removed from the system, making it particularly dangerous for long-term attacks.
The operational impact of this stored XSS vulnerability extends beyond simple data theft or session hijacking, as it can enable attackers to perform a wide range of malicious activities including account takeover, data exfiltration, and privilege escalation. In the context of pkp/pkp-lib which serves as a platform for scholarly publishing systems, such vulnerabilities could compromise entire academic databases, user credentials, and sensitive research information. The attack surface is particularly concerning given that this library powers many institutional repositories and journal management systems where users may have elevated privileges or access to confidential academic data.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability must address both the immediate remediation needs and long-term architectural improvements to prevent similar issues from recurring. Organizations should implement comprehensive input sanitization using established libraries and frameworks that properly encode output for different contexts including html, javascript, and css environments. The implementation of Content Security Policy headers can provide additional protection layers against script execution even when input validation fails. Regular security audits and code reviews focusing on data handling patterns should be conducted to identify potential injection points, with automated scanning tools integrated into continuous integration pipelines. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-79 which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws, and maps to ATT&CK technique T1566 related to spearphishing attachments and links that can deliver malicious payloads through web interfaces.
The remediation process requires updating the affected software version to 3.3.0-16 or later where the stored XSS vulnerabilities have been addressed through proper input validation and output encoding mechanisms. Security teams should also conduct thorough assessments of all user-generated content systems within their environments to identify similar patterns that may be vulnerable to the same class of attacks, particularly in applications handling sensitive academic or institutional data where the stakes of successful exploitation are particularly high.