CVE-2024-41381
📋 TL;DR
Microweber 2.0.16 contains a stored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the admin.php settings module that allows attackers to inject malicious scripts. This affects administrators who access the vulnerable settings page, potentially compromising their sessions and administrative access. The vulnerability requires administrative privileges to exploit.
💻 Affected Systems
- Microweber
📦 What is this software?
Microweber by Microweber
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
An attacker with admin access could inject persistent malicious scripts that steal administrator credentials, hijack sessions, or deploy backdoors when other admins view the settings page.
Likely Case
Malicious admin or compromised admin account injects JavaScript to steal session cookies or redirect to phishing pages, leading to account takeover.
If Mitigated
With proper input validation and output encoding, the malicious scripts would be neutralized, preventing execution.
🎯 Exploit Status
The GitHub issue shows proof-of-concept details. Exploitation requires admin privileges but is straightforward once access is obtained.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 2.0.17 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/microweber/microweber/issues/1110
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Backup your Microweber installation. 2. Update to Microweber 2.0.17 or later via the admin panel or manual download. 3. Verify the userfiles/modules/settings/admin.php file has been updated.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Input Validation Workaround
allManually add input sanitization to the vulnerable admin.php file
Edit userfiles/modules/settings/admin.php and implement proper HTML entity encoding for all user inputs
Access Restriction
allRestrict access to the admin panel to trusted IP addresses only
Add IP whitelisting rules to your web server configuration (e.g., .htaccess for Apache, nginx.conf for Nginx)
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to block XSS payloads
- Disable or remove the vulnerable admin.php file if the functionality is not required
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check if your Microweber version is 2.0.16 or if the admin.php file lacks proper input sanitization for user-controlled parameters.Check Version:
Check the version in Microweber admin dashboard or examine the composer.json fileVerify Fix Applied:
After updating, verify the version shows 2.0.17+ and test that script tags in settings inputs are properly encoded in output.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual POST requests to admin.php with script tags or JavaScript in parameters
- Multiple failed admin login attempts followed by successful access
Network Indicators:
- Unexpected outbound connections from admin sessions to external domains
- Suspicious JavaScript payloads in HTTP requests
SIEM Query:
source="web_logs" AND (url="*admin.php*" AND (param="*<script>*" OR param="*javascript:*"))