CVE-2026-116514 in Airline Reservation System
Summary
by MITRE • 10/27/2026
A weakness has been identified in itsourcecode Airline Reservation System 1.0. This affects an unknown part of the file /book_flight.php. Executing a manipulation of the argument max can lead to cross site scripting. The attack can be executed remotely. The exploit has been made available to the public and could be used for attacks.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/27/2026
The identified vulnerability in itsourcecode Airline Reservation System version 1.0 represents a significant security flaw within the web application's flight booking functionality, specifically located in the /book_flight.php file. This weakness is classified as an input validation error where the system fails to properly sanitize user-supplied data before processing it for display or further handling. The specific parameter affected is max, which likely controls a limit on search results, pagination, or available options during the booking process. Because this variable is directly influenced by external inputs without adequate filtering, it creates an entry point for malicious actors to inject executable scripts into the application's response stream. This type of flaw aligns with Common Weakness Enumeration identifier CWE-79, which describes Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation, commonly known as Cross-Site Scripting or XSS. The presence of this vulnerability indicates a fundamental gap in the developer's implementation of secure coding practices regarding user input handling and output encoding.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe due to its remote executability and the availability of public exploits. An attacker can craft a malicious URL containing script payloads within the max parameter value, which, when accessed by an unsuspecting victim such as a customer or administrator using the airline reservation system, will cause the browser to execute the injected code in the context of the vulnerable website. This allows for session hijacking, where attackers steal authentication cookies and tokens to impersonate legitimate users. It also enables credential harvesting through phishing techniques embedded within the script payload, redirection to malicious sites, defacement of the web page content, or even keylogging activities that capture sensitive information typed by the victim. Since the exploit is publicly available, automated scanning tools and opportunistic attackers can easily leverage this weakness without requiring specialized knowledge, significantly increasing the likelihood of successful compromise in environments where the software remains unpatched.
From a tactical perspective, this vulnerability maps to several techniques within the MITRE ATT&CK framework for web applications. It corresponds primarily to T1059, Command and Scripting Interpreter, as it involves executing arbitrary code via script injection. Furthermore, if used for stealing credentials or session tokens, it aligns with T1539, Steal Web Session Cookie, and potentially T1204, User Execution, depending on how the payload is delivered to trigger user interaction. The remote nature of the attack means that no physical access or prior authentication is required to initiate the exploitation process, although successful impact often relies on social engineering elements to get a victim to click a crafted link or visit a compromised page containing the malicious parameter.
Mitigation strategies must focus on immediate remediation and long-term security hardening. The primary fix involves implementing strict input validation and output encoding for all user-supplied data, particularly parameters like max that are reflected in HTTP responses. Developers should employ allow-listing techniques to ensure only expected numeric or alphanumeric values are accepted, rejecting any input containing special characters such as angle brackets, quotes, or script tags. Additionally, setting the HttpOnly flag on session cookies can mitigate some impacts of XSS by preventing client-side scripts from accessing sensitive cookie data. Content Security Policy headers should also be configured to restrict the sources from which scripts can be loaded and executed, providing an additional layer of defense even if input sanitization fails. Regular security code reviews and automated static application security testing are recommended to detect similar vulnerabilities in other parts of the system before they reach production environments.