Source: cve@mitre.org
Multiple cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities in templates/2k11/admin/overview.inc.tpl in Serendipity before 2.0-rc2 allow remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via a blog comment in the QUERY_STRING to serendipity/index.php.
Serendipity versions prior to 2.0-rc2 are vulnerable to Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) attacks. This vulnerability allows attackers to inject malicious JavaScript into blog comments, potentially leading to account compromise, session hijacking, and website defacement by exploiting a flaw in the overview.inc.tpl template.
Step 1: Payload Delivery: An attacker crafts a malicious blog comment containing JavaScript code.
Step 2: Comment Submission: The attacker submits the crafted comment through the Serendipity blog interface.
Step 3: Data Storage: The malicious comment, including the JavaScript payload, is stored in the Serendipity database.
Step 4: Page Rendering: When a user views the blog post or the admin overview page, the overview.inc.tpl template retrieves the comment data from the database.
Step 5: XSS Execution: Because the comment data is not properly sanitized or encoded, the injected JavaScript code is executed by the user's browser, leading to the XSS vulnerability.
The vulnerability stems from insufficient input sanitization of user-supplied data within the overview.inc.tpl template file. Specifically, the application fails to properly escape or encode user-provided blog comments before displaying them within the context of the HTML page. This allows attackers to inject malicious JavaScript code into the comment section, which is then executed by the victim's browser when they view the page. The root cause is a lack of proper output encoding or input validation for data retrieved from the QUERY_STRING and used within the template, leading to the execution of arbitrary HTML and JavaScript.
While no specific APTs are directly linked to this CVE, XSS vulnerabilities are commonly exploited by various threat actors for reconnaissance, credential harvesting, and malware distribution. This vulnerability could be leveraged in conjunction with other exploits. Not on CISA KEV.
Monitor web server logs for suspicious HTTP requests containing JavaScript payloads in the QUERY_STRING (e.g., <script>, onerror).
Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) to detect and block XSS attempts.
Analyze blog comment content for malicious patterns and unusual HTML tags.
Use a Content Security Policy (CSP) to restrict the execution of inline scripts and scripts from untrusted sources.
Network traffic analysis for unusual HTTP requests to the Serendipity application.
Upgrade to Serendipity version 2.0-rc2 or later.
Implement proper input validation and output encoding to sanitize user-supplied data before displaying it in the overview.inc.tpl template and other relevant files.
Use a security plugin or module that provides XSS protection.
Regularly scan the application for vulnerabilities using security scanners.
Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) to filter malicious requests.