CVE-2023-6465 in Nipah Virus Testing Management System
Summary
by MITRE • 12/02/2023
A vulnerability was found in PHPGurukul Nipah Virus Testing Management System 1.0. It has been classified as problematic. This affects an unknown part of the file registered-user-testing.php. The manipulation of the argument regmobilenumber leads to cross site scripting. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. The exploit has been disclosed to the public and may be used. The associated identifier of this vulnerability is VDB-246615.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/22/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2023-6465 represents a critical cross site scripting flaw within the PHPGurukul Nipah Virus Testing Management System version 1.0. This system, designed for managing virus testing operations, contains a security weakness that allows malicious actors to inject malicious scripts into web applications through user input. The vulnerability specifically resides in the registered-user-testing.php file where the regmobilenumber parameter becomes the attack vector for executing XSS payloads. The flaw demonstrates a classic input validation failure that enables attackers to manipulate application behavior through crafted mobile number inputs.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient sanitization and output encoding of user-supplied data within the web application's input handling mechanism. When the regmobilenumber parameter is processed without proper validation, the system fails to escape special characters that could be interpreted as HTML or JavaScript code. This weakness allows attackers to inject malicious scripts that execute in the context of other users' browsers who view the affected page. The vulnerability's classification as remotely exploitable means that attackers can initiate attacks without requiring physical access to the system or local network privileges.
The operational impact of this XSS vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, potentially enabling attackers to perform session hijacking, deface the application interface, steal sensitive user information, or redirect victims to malicious websites. The disclosure of the exploit publicly increases the risk profile significantly, as threat actors can immediately leverage this knowledge to target vulnerable installations. Attackers may craft malicious mobile number inputs that, when processed by the application, execute scripts that capture cookies, redirect users, or inject additional malicious content into the application's response.
Security practitioners should implement comprehensive input validation measures to address this vulnerability, including strict sanitization of all user inputs and proper output encoding before displaying any user-supplied data. The application should enforce Content Security Policy headers to mitigate the impact of potential XSS attacks, while also implementing proper parameter validation for the regmobilenumber field. Organizations using this system should conduct immediate vulnerability assessments to identify all affected instances and apply patches or workarounds as recommended by the vendor. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-79 which specifically addresses cross site scripting weaknesses, and represents a technique commonly catalogued in ATT&CK framework under T1566 for initial access through malicious inputs.
The public disclosure of this exploit creates an urgent security concern for all organizations running this specific version of the Nipah Virus Testing Management System. Given the nature of healthcare applications, the potential for data breaches and privacy violations increases substantially when such vulnerabilities remain unpatched. Security monitoring should include detection of suspicious mobile number inputs and anomalous application behavior that might indicate exploitation attempts. Regular security updates and comprehensive testing of web application inputs remain critical defensive measures against this class of vulnerability, which continues to represent one of the most prevalent attack vectors in web application security.