Overview
CVE-2024-44635 describes a Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability found in PHPGurukul Student Record System version 3.20. This vulnerability allows attackers to inject malicious scripts into the application, potentially leading to unauthorized access, data theft, or other malicious activities.
Technical Details
The vulnerability exists within the /admin-profile.php page of the application. Specifically, the adminname and aemailid parameters are susceptible to XSS. An attacker can inject malicious JavaScript code into these parameters. When an administrator views the profile page, the injected script will be executed within their browser context.
The lack of proper input validation and output encoding on the adminname and aemailid parameters allows for the successful execution of the XSS attack. The application fails to sanitize user-supplied data before rendering it in the web page.
CVSS Analysis
According to the information provided, the CVE has a CVSS score of N/A. This likely indicates that the National Vulnerability Database (NVD) or other scoring authorities have not yet assigned a CVSS score. However, the presence of an XSS vulnerability generally indicates a moderate to high-severity risk, depending on the context of the application and the attacker’s capabilities.
Possible Impact
The impact of this XSS vulnerability could be significant. An attacker could:
- Steal an administrator’s session cookie, gaining unauthorized access to the application.
- Deface the application’s web pages.
- Redirect users to malicious websites.
- Inject malicious code to collect sensitive information such as user credentials.
- Modify data stored within the Student Record System.
Mitigation and Patch Steps
To mitigate this vulnerability, consider the following steps:
- Upgrade: Check the PHPGurukul website for a newer version of the Student Record System that addresses this vulnerability. Upgrade to the latest stable version as soon as possible.
- Input Validation: Implement strict input validation on all user-supplied data, especially the
adminnameandaemailidparameters in/admin-profile.php. Sanitize or reject any input that contains suspicious characters or code. - Output Encoding: Use proper output encoding techniques to escape any user-supplied data before rendering it in the web page. This will prevent the browser from interpreting the data as executable code. Use appropriate encoding functions provided by PHP, such as
htmlspecialchars(). - Web Application Firewall (WAF): Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) to detect and block XSS attacks.
- Regular Security Audits: Conduct regular security audits and penetration testing to identify and address vulnerabilities in your application.
If an official patch is not yet available, implementing input validation and output encoding is crucial for mitigating the risk.
