Junglewise Threat Intelligence

CVE-2016-7981: SPIP reflected XSS in valider_xml.php

CVE-2016-7981 · Severity: medium · CVSS 6.1 · Published 2017-01-18

Technologies: Spip. Vendors: Spip.

Executive brief

SPIP, a popular open-source content management system, is vulnerable to a security flaw that allows attackers to inject malicious scripts into the web pages of other users. By tricking a user (such as an administrator) into clicking a specially crafted link, an attacker could steal login session information or perform unauthorized actions on the website. This could lead to a compromise of the site's management interface or the exposure of sensitive data.

Technical details

A reflected cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability exists in SPIP versions 3.1.2 and earlier within the 'valider_xml.php' script. The root cause is the improper sanitization of the 'var_url' parameter before it is echoed back to the user in the 'valider_xml' action. An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit this by crafting a malicious URL containing JavaScript or HTML and persuading a logged-in user to visit it. Successful exploitation allows the execution of arbitrary script in the context of the victim's browser session, potentially leading to session hijacking or unauthorized administrative actions. The issue was addressed in SPIP 3.1.3 by improving input validation and restricting access to the affected component to webmasters.

Affected products

  • SPIP SPIP <= 3.1.2

Timeline

  • 2016-09-15: other: Initial discovery by Sysdream Labs
  • 2016-09-27: patched: Fixes issued in SPIP repository (revisions 23200, 23201, 23202)
  • 2016-09-30: other: SPIP 3.1.3 released
  • 2016-10-12: disclosed: Public disclosure on oss-security mailing list
  • 2017-01-18: advisory: NVD advisory published

References

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