CVE-2024-32469 in Decidim
Summary
by MITRE • 07/10/2024
Decidim is a participatory democracy framework. The pagination feature used in searches and filters is subject to potential XSS attack through a malformed URL using the GET parameter `per_page`. This vulnerability is fixed in 0.27.6 and 0.28.1.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/19/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-32469 affects Decidim, an open-source participatory democracy framework designed to facilitate citizen engagement in democratic processes. This framework enables organizations to conduct public consultations, participatory budgeting, and other forms of democratic participation through digital platforms. The security flaw resides within the pagination functionality that handles user search and filter operations, specifically through the GET parameter named per_page. The vulnerability represents a classic cross-site scripting attack vector that could potentially compromise the security of users interacting with the platform.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and sanitization of the per_page parameter in the pagination logic. When users navigate through search results or filtered content, the framework processes the per_page parameter to determine how many items to display per page. However, the application fails to properly sanitize or validate this parameter before incorporating it into the response, allowing malicious actors to inject arbitrary JavaScript code through specially crafted URLs. This flaw aligns with CWE-79, which categorizes cross-site scripting vulnerabilities as weaknesses in input validation and output encoding. The vulnerability exists because the framework does not implement proper sanitization mechanisms to prevent malicious payloads from being executed in the context of other users' browsers.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant for organizations relying on Decidim for democratic participation processes. An attacker could craft malicious URLs containing XSS payloads that would execute when other users navigate to search results or filtered content pages. This could lead to session hijacking, credential theft, or the execution of unauthorized actions within the application context. The attack vector is particularly concerning because it leverages legitimate pagination functionality, making it harder to detect and block. Users participating in democratic processes could unknowingly execute malicious code, potentially compromising the integrity of the entire participatory democracy system. The vulnerability affects all versions prior to 0.27.6 and 0.28.1, indicating that organizations running older versions of the framework are at risk of exploitation.
Organizations using Decidim should immediately upgrade to version 0.27.6 or 0.28.1 to remediate this vulnerability. The fix implemented in these versions likely includes proper input validation and sanitization of the per_page parameter, ensuring that any potentially malicious content is neutralized before being processed by the pagination system. Security practitioners should also implement additional protective measures such as input validation at the web application firewall level and monitoring for unusual patterns in pagination parameters. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of validating all user inputs, particularly parameters used in dynamic content generation, as outlined in the ATT&CK framework's technique T1213 for data from information repositories. Regular security assessments of web applications should include thorough testing of pagination and filtering features to identify similar vulnerabilities that could compromise user security and application integrity.