Source: cve@mitre.org
A cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in mccutchen httpbin v2.17.1 allows attackers to execute arbitrary web scripts or HTML via a crafted payload.
httpbin v2.17.1 is vulnerable to a cross-site scripting (XSS) attack, allowing attackers to inject malicious scripts into the application. This vulnerability could lead to session hijacking, data theft, or website defacement, impacting users who interact with the compromised application. Successful exploitation requires a crafted payload to be delivered to the vulnerable application.
Step 1: Payload Delivery: The attacker crafts a malicious payload containing JavaScript code (e.g., <script>alert('XSS')</script>).
Step 2: Request Submission: The attacker submits the crafted payload to a vulnerable endpoint within httpbin v2.17.1, likely through a GET or POST request. The specific endpoint depends on the vulnerable functionality within httpbin.
Step 3: Server-Side Processing: The httpbin application receives the request and processes the input, potentially storing or echoing the attacker's payload.
Step 4: Response Generation: The application generates an HTTP response that includes the attacker's payload without proper sanitization or encoding.
Step 5: Client-Side Execution: The victim's web browser receives the response containing the malicious JavaScript. The browser then executes the JavaScript code within the context of the httpbin domain, allowing the attacker to perform actions on behalf of the victim.
The vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and output encoding within the httpbin application. Specifically, the application fails to properly sanitize user-supplied input before rendering it in the response. This allows an attacker to inject malicious JavaScript code within HTML tags, which is then executed by the victim's browser. The root cause is likely a missing or inadequate implementation of HTML encoding or input sanitization on user-provided data, specifically within the response generation logic. This allows for the injection of arbitrary HTML and JavaScript, leading to the execution of attacker-controlled code within the context of the vulnerable website. The lack of proper escaping of special characters like < and > is the core issue.
While no specific APT groups are directly linked to this CVE at this time, XSS vulnerabilities are commonly exploited by various threat actors for a range of malicious activities. This vulnerability could be leveraged by script kiddies or more sophisticated actors. CISA KEV status: Not Listed.
Web server logs: Examine HTTP request logs for suspicious patterns, such as unusual characters or HTML tags in user input (e.g., <script>, <iframe>).
Network traffic analysis: Monitor network traffic for unusual HTTP requests containing potentially malicious payloads. Tools like Wireshark or Suricata can be used to identify these patterns.
Intrusion Detection/Prevention Systems (IDS/IPS): Implement rules to detect XSS attempts based on signature matching or behavioral analysis.
Web Application Firewalls (WAFs): WAFs can be configured to block XSS payloads based on predefined rules or machine learning models.
Content Security Policy (CSP) violations: Monitor for CSP violations reported by browsers, which can indicate XSS attempts.
Implement robust input validation: Sanitize all user-supplied input to remove or encode potentially dangerous characters (e.g., <, >, &, ', ").
Implement output encoding: Encode all data before rendering it in the HTML response. This prevents the browser from interpreting the injected code as HTML.
Use a Content Security Policy (CSP): Configure a CSP to restrict the sources from which the browser can load resources (e.g., scripts, stylesheets). This can mitigate the impact of XSS attacks.
Regularly update httpbin: Ensure that the application is updated to the latest version to address any known vulnerabilities.
Conduct regular security audits and penetration testing: Proactively identify and address vulnerabilities in the application.
Use a WAF: Deploy a Web Application Firewall to filter malicious requests and prevent XSS attacks.