Overview
CVE-2024-44661 identifies a Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability found in PHPGurukul Online Shopping Portal version 2.0. This vulnerability allows an attacker to inject malicious scripts into the application, potentially compromising user accounts, stealing sensitive information, or defacing the website. The vulnerability resides within the my-cart.php file through the quantity parameter.
Technical Details
The vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation on the quantity parameter within the my-cart.php page. An attacker can craft a malicious URL with a specially crafted quantity value containing JavaScript code. When a user visits this URL, the injected script is executed in their browser, leading to potential exploitation. The lack of proper sanitization allows the injected script to be rendered without being properly escaped or encoded.
For example, a malicious URL might look like this:
yourdomain.com/my-cart.php?quantity=<script>alert('XSS Vulnerability!');</script>
CVSS Analysis
- Severity: MEDIUM
- CVSS Score: 5.4
A CVSS score of 5.4 indicates a medium severity vulnerability. While not critical, it still poses a significant risk to users and the application’s security. The score reflects the potential for limited access to sensitive data and the possibility of moderate impact on system resources.
Possible Impact
The successful exploitation of this XSS vulnerability can lead to several negative consequences, including:
- Account Takeover: An attacker could steal user cookies and session tokens, allowing them to impersonate legitimate users.
- Data Theft: Sensitive information, such as credit card details or personal data, could be stolen.
- Website Defacement: The attacker could modify the website’s content, displaying misleading or malicious information.
- Malware Distribution: The injected script could redirect users to malicious websites or trigger the download of malware.
Mitigation or Patch Steps
To mitigate the risk of this XSS vulnerability, the following steps should be taken:
- Input Validation: Implement strict input validation on the
quantityparameter inmy-cart.php. Only allow numeric values and reject any input containing HTML or JavaScript code. - Output Encoding: Encode all output data to prevent the browser from interpreting it as executable code. Use appropriate encoding functions (e.g.,
htmlspecialchars()in PHP) to escape special characters. - Web Application Firewall (WAF): Deploy a WAF to detect and block malicious requests, including those attempting to exploit this XSS vulnerability.
- Update PHPGurukul Online Shopping Portal: Check the PHPGurukul website for any official patches or updates that address this vulnerability. Applying updates is the best long-term solution.
